Latest / Skin Anarchy / E.363: Founder of FARMACY Creates A Hub For Beauty Entrepreneurs To Formulate Their Visions (iLABS)

Transcript

E.363: Founder of FARMACY Creates A Hub For Beauty Entrepreneurs To Formulate Their Visions (iLABS) · Skin Anarchy

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: This episode is brought to you by Bonnet.
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• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: Hey guys, welcome back to Skincare Anarchy.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: This is Ecta, and I'm really excited because I'm going to be announcing the 2022 top picks very soon.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: We have started emailing out brands that have qualified, and I'm so excited because this is the second year we're doing this, and the first year was phenomenal.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: You guys had such great feedback for us.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: You really, really helped us understand like what you're looking for in skincare, makeup, uh, fragrance, wellness, you know, all of these different categories.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: And so you're they're all going to be represented in the 2022 top picks.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: So keep your eyes open.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, also, I just want to mention for all of the brands that might be listing, um, if you have brand new releases, this is the time to send them over to us so that we can evaluate them and figure out if they qualify for our top picks list.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: With that being said, I just want to encourage everybody to take advantage because this year is very special in the sense that we're also going to be doing a wonderful, um, kind of like a catalog where all of the brands are being featured, the ones that are uh participating, they're offering us a certain percentage off.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: So it's between 10 to 20% off your order, and it's only one code, and that one code will be applicable to all of the brands that are participating.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: We're going to have beautiful art assets and in like a huge pamphlet that is gonna go out via our email list.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're not subscribed to our email list, definitely go to our link tree uh hyperlink, which is in the profile, the bio for Sincare Anarchy's uh Instagram page, and definitely sign up for the email link because this is where it's gonna be going out, and it's only for our listeners, it's only for our dedicated fans, and I really, really hope you love it.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: We are not making commissions off any of these sales.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: These are really just um, you know, this just 10 to 20% off for you guys off the brands that we love and the brands that we are highlighting in the top picks.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: So if you really want to take advantage of that, I highly suggest you go sign up for our email list.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um you're not gonna get spammed.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: We never send emails out.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, just stay tuned and hopefully you love the selections that we've come up with.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: They're really the top of the line when it comes to luxury or science um or efficacy or even just accessibility.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: There really, really are brands um in this list that are suitable for everybody, you know, male, female, regardless of gender, regardless of skin type, regardless of there's something here for everybody, and that's really our goal is to give you a wonderful, you know, catalog of options that are tried and true, they're tested, they are, you know, looked at in terms of you know the science.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: We have research, their ingredients, we have research, their vision, what the brand is doing, if it's uh if it's something that aligns with the principles that we often discuss on the podcast, such as, you know, like vegan brands or natural products or clean beauty, organic beauty, um, you know, things that are run through clinical trials, things that have been proven to work, you know, all of these aspects have been part of the curation process for us.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: They're also built into like before I even interview a brand, I usually look for these kind of things anyway.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like a double um review that's happening.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um now one thing I want to, you know, just let everybody know is that I, you know, me and Secretary Anarchy LLC, we do not take any responsibility for, you know, if something doesn't work for you guys or whatever.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_02: So this is just our our way of giving you the best of the best of this year.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: And if you guys have any other suggestions, or if you want to see any other brands to come onto our show, definitely shoot me an email directly.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: My email is ECTA E K T A at Skincare Anarchy Podcast dot com.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: All one word.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: And shoot me an email.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: Let me know if there are brands that you guys really want to learn about and you want to hear from, and I will definitely send out an invitation.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: And if you are in the PR realm, I would love to also announce that we are now making Fridays, fragrance, and Fashion Fridays.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: So if you have any brands and clients that fall into the fashion category, I really urge you guys reach out to us.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's going to be amazing.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: I can't wait to expand Spirit Anarchy so that we are really covering everything that has to do with beauty, fashion, wellness, self-care, self-love, just making everybody feel like there is something out there for you.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: That is my goal.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: And it's truly with the essence of creating a library for you guys.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna stop ranting, but that was my announcement about topics.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: Stay tuned, it's gonna be amazing, and definitely share with your friends.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: That's something that I cannot emphasize enough.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: The more you guys reach out to your friends, family, neighbors, people who are interested in our content or similar content, the better it is for us because we rely on that organic growth.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: And also, one more thing before I go if you could please, please go on to Apple Podcasts, leave us a written review.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: Not just the five stars, which I am so grateful for, but our actual written review.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: One or two sentences describing why you love our show, why you tune in, and just anything that just helps us get our name out there.
• 6:16
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• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: So if you do that for us, it's gonna be a huge help.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_02: Anyways, thank you guys so much for tuning in, and I hope you love this year's topic.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: Talk to you soon.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: Hi guys, welcome back to Skincare Aerophy.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: This is Esther, and I have a wonderful guest today.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: This is one of my all-time favorite brands, and he is the creative genius behind it.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: So without further ado, I want to introduce you guys to the founder of Pharmacy Skincare, David Chung.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the show.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: David, I'm so honored to host you.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so honored to be here.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for inviting me.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it's it's truly my honor and my pleasure to have you on the show.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like I said, I'm a huge fan of the line, and I really love what you have created with it.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: I think you know, pharmacy is has been such a game changer for this industry.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_02: So I would love to get started by learning about you and um just your background and what led to the creation of the brand.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, sure.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, where do you want to start, Ed?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we can start wherever the idea started for you for pharmacy.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: It's a good place to start.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, I guess we could start it from um uh a little bit about my background.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and how it came about uh launching of uh creating a pharmacy.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I've been always a serial entrepreneur.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um I've been in the beauty industry uh quite a long time.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: So before launching a pharmacy in 2015, um, right before that, as we were launching, I own a um contract manufacturing company.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, let me start from the beginning.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: I started with retail as a merchant.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I owned a retail store uh called Cosmetic World out in the West Coast.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I had seven stores, which was very high-end luxury uh skincare and cosmetic stores.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: I think before um maybe Sephora or Artow was existed.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um and from there I launched uh another brand called Tree Lab, which is a luxury skincare line that I launched with uh 6 Fifth Avenue in Barnes, New York.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then in 2005, I launched a uh manufacturing company, country manufacturing company called Ingo Lab.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: And what Ingo Lab is is a manufacturing, we manufacture over 100 brands.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: Uh with RD, uh manufacturing, complete turnkey service to uh very large brands that you know, as well as the smaller brands that carried in Sephora.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: And from there, we had a relationship with Sephora, obviously, because we were manufacturing a lot of brands for them.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: And they came about looking for new ideas.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we came out with something clean beauty at the time, and we decided to um launch with Sephora at the time, and we launched in 2015, uh, in September with Sephora, and that's how the brand was born.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and we built in six years um to quite a uh top brand inside Sephora.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: And on December 31, uh, about six months ago, um December 31, 2021, we I sold all my shares and exited to uh Pract and Gamble, uh PNG.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: And today I own another manufacturing and research and development innovation company called iLabs, which also produce for hundreds of brands uh as well.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so uh that's what we do at this point.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: That's so that's so interesting to me, David, because honestly, you know, when pharmacy first came on to my radar, you know, I had never seen something like it.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I remember the the honeymoon glow product, for example, you know, it was such a cool product.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_02: I love night treatments.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't know um for a lot of listeners out there, you know, if you guys are like me, you know, I love products that are just easy to use.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: You put them on your face, you wake up and you have a really nice, you know, look to your face and your skin.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I this was one of the first products I remember that I had used like that.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I was just blown away with the overnight results.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so I'm very curious about, you know, you mentioned that you are really, you know, spearheading this innovation, you know, frontier with this with you know the other brands, but like when how did you decide, you know, what you wanted to create with pharmacy in terms of like just the products themselves?
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_02: You know, what what was the main thing you wanted to bring to this market that you saw was missing?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well well, pharmacy, we wanted it create uh kind of natural with the science together.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, sometimes you know uh natural skincare grant some does not have efficacy or functionality.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: So we want our idea was to in the big at that time the clean beauty was not as what it is today.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: It was early stage, and we want to create a um formulation that has more than a thousand no-no-list ingredients that we don't want to carry into the formula, but at the same time, we want to make sure that this is a science-driven formula with efficacy behind it.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: So that was the concept and keeping the farm to skin uh uh concept as well.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: So that was the original idea.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: And later on, I'm sure there's so many other brands that studied clean beauty.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that was the we were the one over the early state, early brand that was working on the clean uh skincare.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: No, I I noticed that.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, you know, pharmacy is, I think it was honestly one of the first brands I bought that was a clean, you know, Sephora's clean check mark.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_02: And just the idea of it, you know, being a clean skincare brand for me as a consumer, um, it was a very new kind of, I think, uh a new area for me, you know.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I I remember I was like, well, it's it's nice to know that.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean, for me, it I'm a very different kind of consumer in the sense that I I value clean, but I value results more, I think.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I just remember feeling like, you know, here's a brand that is so accessible, so beautifully crafted.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: And you guys were just doing it so it felt so effortlessly, you know, and it stood out so much to me amongst all of the plethora of products, you know, as a new consumer in the skincare space, you don't know where to go to.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_02: So to have a brand like pharmacy and to know that it was very, you know, um respected.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I know all of the people on Instagram I was following, they were, you know, just posting about it and stuff.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: I was just like blown away by how good of a product you were selling.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, every product had had a place, you know.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: So that's very hard to accomplish.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so you know, tell me more about your work now, you know, in terms of uh you said that you're you're spearheading, you know, your um your company and your lab, which creates new products.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: Now, what is the what kind of things do you like?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: What kind of products do you like to take on?
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: You know, what are the things you like to focus on with your new endeavor?
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: At iLabs, you know, I stands for innovation.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: And iLabs, we do uh manufacturing, RD, complete turnkey.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: So what I like to do uh is when somebody is starting a new brand or launching a new brand, I love to help them uh to get them off the ground, what needs to be done, and help them create for you know products as well.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: And um so that's the goal for ILabs.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I love working with um small indie beauty brands and really holding hands too so they could become successful.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we enjoy that.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, we do have um uh big brands, um, but uh I enjoy uh helping small brands.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: No, what is the uh process, David?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: I just to educate our listeners because I know that you know a lot of people that tune into our show, they are either you know small business owners in the space or they want to be.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: And one of the big topics that really kind of comes up in the questions that we get is well, I don't know where to start, you know, when it comes to finding a lab or a manufacturer.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: And these kind of gray areas I think are very hard to give answers to.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_02: So I would love to get your advice for everyone listening who might fall into this category about what are some of the things we should look for as small brand founders when we're signing with a lab or signing with someone um, you know, company such as yours.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, so yeah, a lot of um small brands uh who could be a uh founders could be an influencer, could be a celebrity, or it could be a housewife um who has a passion and has an idea of starting a new brand, and they may have a Instagram followers, but they don't know how to go about you know building a brand.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I've done it many times.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I know what's involved, um, and there's a lot of challenges.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: So we start with a lot of times understanding who the audience are, you know, trying to see what ideas that they have, you know, how the DNA of the brand, you know, what is their brand story?
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then the other always the question was MOQ, you know, minimum order quantities, you know, they cannot afford to order uh typical MOQ for manufacturing company 10,000 pieces per SKU.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of time, you know, I'm just starting it out, and I I don't have the money or I don't have a place to sell for 10,000 pieces.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: It would take me for a year or two years to sell 10,000 pieces.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: So we helped them with that, and we tried to help them start with the 500 piece or even 200 pieces, and then um and help them create.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so there that was a white space.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, when I sold my last company in Go Lab, uh I realized there's so many opportunities for smaller brands to become big, like pharmacy or drunk gallophone, or many success stories like Tacha.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we try to give them guide them what needs to be done, how does it work, and and they can start small orders uh and then and help them grow.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so there is no uh manufacturing company in the United States that is doing that.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: We're the first one.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: iLab is the first company in the country that really uh working on this for them in skincare, hair care areas.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, how does that work?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, David, I'm so curious because you're right, you know, and that's something I've even heard, you know, from feedback is that people, uh, a lot of these labs, a lot of these manufacturers are doing exactly what you said, which is this huge amount, right, in the orders.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: But um I'm curious, you know, from your standpoint, how does that work as a business model?
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: Because I'm sure there's an amount of risk, right, that you take on.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like iLabs takes on a certain amount of risk when you're assigning a new uh founder, I'm guessing.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: And so how does that work?
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like the whole process of um someone approaching you and then you vetting to see if they're a good fit with your lab.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so for us, um economically, you know, typical manufactur manufacturing companies really make money when they're working with like ST Lore or Laurier or Practin Gambler of the company because they order millions of pieces at a time.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, when you work small brands, you know, it's difficult for contract manufacturing because you need to educate this person, the founders, all the things that almost like holding hands is a lot of work, and then on return, you're gonna they're gonna order like$10,000, you know, like small orders.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: Where big companies they would order millions of dollars at the same time.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: We don't need to educate them, they know this business as good as we do, so it's an easy business.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but I enjoy you know having a small business.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: So you know, I go out of the way and and hopefully they become successful, then they could order in the future hundreds of thousands of pieces with us.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: But in the beginning, um you know, they come to our website, work with us.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so we created a um a division inside iLabs.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: We call it mylabs, M-I-L-A-B-S.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: And what my labs are is when the small brands, let's say Ekta, you want to start a brand, and then you you you browse is uh our existing formula that's already ready to go.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's innovative formula products, and you could pick from there to see if you want to start a brand and see if it's working or not.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so my lab is available to everyone around the world.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: It could be that person's influence could be in China, Korea, whatever the country they're in, and ordering you know, 100 piece or 200 piece and put their label on and see if it's selling.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, so these are the things that we developed at iLabs.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I always wanted to do something different.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't want to go out and create another manufacturing company that's the same as any other manufacturing company that exists today in the country.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so I wanted to try something different, something that no one else is really doing.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's how iLabs was born.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: And and I think that, and you know, we are complete turnkey service sector.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: We help them create formula, we help them get the packaging, we help them with artwork, graphic design, uh, and then if they need you know more service than that, such as they may financial investment, we look at that as well.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um if they need, you know, so complete turnkey service uh for a startup startup brands.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's so that is really, really awesome to hear that, David, that you're doing this because that's truly a service, I feel like, for so many entrepreneurs.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I can't tell you, like, like I said, you know, we get emails all the time, and people are like, I want to start my own brand.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know where to begin.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, this is like the perfect episode, I feel like, for everyone like that.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I I don't hear anyone ever talking about this problem where it's like, you know, new founders have the money, you know, they don't have like$25,000 set aside, you know, for this huge investment.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's really cool to see that someone like you is doing this and really spearheading all of this.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, in turn, in my opinion, the skincare space and the beauty space.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Is it's like a garden for innovation, you know, if I look at it like as a scientist.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I get so discouraged when I see these people that want to come into it, but then it's that problem that you told us about, you know, which is they don't have that fund, you know, to begin with, to just say, I'm gonna put all my savings in and hope this works, you know.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: So this is really cool stuff that you're doing.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I mean, when I launched 3Lab back in uh that was a long time ago, 2000 three, you know, I was always treated as a second-class citizen when I go to manufacturing company because I was asking for like 1,000 Ps when their MOQ was 10,000.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, and they never show me any innovation because you know, um, innovation was for big companies.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: So uh so I know that everyone that's out there who's studying a brand and using a manufacturing, they they a lot of them will be treated like second-class citizens.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, that's something I wanted to make difference is um make sure that they get the attention and and and and follow the our process that we have.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's really just you know, that's really inspired work.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's what matters right now because especially with COVID, you know, I'm sure you already know this, but you know, with COVID, I there's just been this huge rise in people who have become entrepreneurs and they've you know opened up their own minds towards starting a business.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: And this is really, really cool to know that there is this option out there.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_02: I I won't lie to you, I was one of those people that considered, you know, before even started this podcast, I said, you know, I'm one day I'm going to start my own line.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, now I know, yeah, I know who to go to now.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: So yes.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: And and I I would love to invite you to our facility, give you a full tour of what we do here and and what are the opportunities uh that's here.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um and and I I don't know if you're based in the East Coast.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, I'm actually I I travel between New York and you know my the Midwest a lot.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, trust me, I've I of all the things, you know, if I do end up starting a line, you're the first person I'm going to come to because I know nothing about this business.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, in the in the sense that I know there are a lot of people out there like that.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: I just, you know, I want to get your, I want to really get your advice though, because there's so much um misinformation in this industry.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: You know, people like for example, you had brought up innovation.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's a really interesting topic because nowadays a lot of big labs, right, they're saying, oh, we're very innovative, we're very science forward.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean, really, how much innovation really is there going on?
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so I want you to tell us about that a little bit, what your you know, input is.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, when someone says, Oh, we found this revolutionary new way to do your skincare.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, is that really true, or are they just working with a preset model?
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, what are what's your opinion?
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: No, if there is a manufacturing out there, uh, you know, we have the innovation, and you know, and you it was a good question that you asked, is okay, what is your innovation?
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, because definition of innovation could be very tricky, you know, it's like uh oh, my product is natural, you know, definition of natural, it could be very tricky, right?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: So um we look at it innovation well.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, you have two types of uh areas.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: One is the formula, formulation, you know, mixing together different raw materials and creating an interesting product.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: And the second area is there could be innovation in packaging that works very interesting, innovative packaging.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: But those two come together obviously to make one product.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: And let's go back to formulations.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: So, formulations, you could talk about ingredient story, what we call a raw material story.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this raw material comes from, you know, a pharmacy studied as uh echines flower and has interesting, um, and drunk elephant has their own raw material stories.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: Every brand has some sort of stories in the raw materials, but innovation is well sometimes the whole concept have all the raw material come together, and that's interesting, right?
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, our number one SKU uh on the pharmacy was the cleansing bomb.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, the so raw material that's inside the cleansing bomb existed before, but we put together such a way to make it clean beauty, and we had to get rid of all the bad things to make it clean beauty at the same time removes makeup, really works, really does an amazing job to remove makeup and clean your face.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: So these are all combined, could be an is we call it innovation.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not always the ingredient that's oh, this ingredient is no one else has this ingredient because this was used for something else, and we put it into skincare.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that could be innovation, but then does it have efficacy?
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: Does it work?
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, does it do the job?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, does it really um help you rosaceous or help you make your skin hydrated?
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, all these things.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why when I studied iLabs, I felt that iLabs needs to have an RD center in South Korea and Seoul.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: I felt iLabs needed a uh RD center in Japan, in Osaka and Tokyo area, where we felt that innovation comes from different cultures.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and you know, and different raw material comes from different countries.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I studied with these two countries uh where I was very familiar with.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um so and and this all this idea combined from different countries, and that's you create something interesting, something innovative.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what really is an innovation.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's not um somebody really comes out with the same thing and they call it innovation.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's not an innovation.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: No, I find that to be so interesting you said that because for me, I think the whole K beauty movement, even the J Beauty movement really opened our eyes as consumers in terms of innovation.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, for me, I remember, you know, I when I first tried like, you know, the products by different lines, right?
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_02: I I immediately noticed there's a huge difference here in the quality of the product.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, there's the it was like I was using things that were I very much ahead of their time.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_02: So it's very it for me, you know, if I was interested in starting a line, I would be very drawn to that.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_02: That you have, you know, your RD centers in such, you know, reputable areas of the world in terms of skin health, because they I always feel that the East is, you know, 10 steps ahead when it comes to innovation in this space than we are here in the West.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, I I think that's a really, really huge hallmark point.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, uh in what you're doing.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and and innovation comes also with the textures, you know, you could have certain textures that was never used before in the past, but doing the, you know, um things like that.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_02: No, absolutely, you're right.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I think, you know, a lot of it is about finding like you had brought up the cultural aspect, and I think that's very interesting as well, because a lot of it really comes down to are you open to thinking outside of the box?
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_02: And are is the partner, your manufacturer, open to thinking outside of the box?
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: And that's something, you know, I see very little of, you know, and personally, I mean, you're more of an expert than I am in this industry, but you know, I think that's what really sets apart what you're telling us here is that, you know, I would rather, if I was a new brand, I would I would rather find a manufacturer such as your company than somebody who's just going to give me XYZ formula and say, here, put a label on it.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_02: You know, that's it.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_02: And not explore because I think that's what's going on right now.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of brands I see, it's like, well, what's the difference between you and brand, you know, number five over there?
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: There's no difference because even with texture, you feel the products and you're like, you know, there's no difference here.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's the same thing.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: So I see a lot of redundancy like that, you know.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I don't want to say anything negative of my competition, but generally, majority of contract manufacturers out there, uh, the country, their background is contract manufacturing.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, where at ILabs, you know, our background, you know, we understand how what's involved in building brands, which we've done for three lab pharmacy, many other brands.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: And we also understand what the retailers need as being a merchant in the past.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: So because of our background, starts from retail, branding, marketing, and manufacturing.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: So when iLabs does work for the brand side, we know exactly what's involved building a brand and what's involving the brand.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, typical manufacturing owners understand manufacturing.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: They know that we have to get the raw materials, we have to batch, we have to fill, and we have to ship it out.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: So that's their background, and that's what they've done for many, many years.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a little bit of difference of experience who done both.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, I think so.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's also about, like you said, having those that understanding of the full circle, you know, because you're right, you can make a product, but then how are you gonna get it in Sephora?
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: How are you gonna get it in Ulta?
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_02: How are you gonna get it in the in front of the right eyes?
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, to be able to find one place and one company that can offer that to you as a new business owner, I mean, that's huge.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_02: That's really, really huge.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I I love that.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because some of a customer ECTA came to us saying we are moving the business to iLabs because they didn't understand what the uh delivery launching of product uh dog is, because you know, contract manufacturer will come to you, ECTA, as a brand owner, and say, Oh, you know, we're not gonna able to deliver July 1 because our raw material delivery is delayed, or packaging was delayed, supply chain was delayed, or whatever the excuses they give.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: So we're not gonna able to deliver July 1, we're gonna deliver September 1.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: But they don't understand the brands.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: There's no uh there's room, no room for changing those dates.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: Those dates are set with a Sephora launching date, they have space, they already spent millions of dollars on marketing preparing for this launch.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: So sometimes they don't get that.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I understand because I launched the brand and I know that you cannot move those dates.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: So those are the sometimes they are frustrated because they they're dealing with somebody who does not understand what it means to launching a product.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, especially, you know, I think with with something as hefty as like the beauty industry, you know, you can't, yeah, you're right, you can't change those dates around, even with publications.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, if there's like a you know, if Forbes or New York Times is gonna feature your brand, you know, your brand launch, what are you gonna just say no?
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm sorry, my manufacturer couldn't do it.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I have no, you know, there's yeah, that's something that's huge.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_02: I'm surprised that that even happens in other uh in other companies.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, you know, I think that's that's very interesting to me.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that, you know, I'm so glad to hear that you're here for this and you're you're doing things so differently because for a long time, you know, I always thought looking out from the outside in as a third person.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_02: I used to think, you know, the labs that make these products just must be the huge labs, you know, that are manufacturing for Estee Law or just the really big companies.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, it it was always for me a very scary area as just a normal person, you know, because you don't know what you're going into, right?
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like who should you trust, who should you not trust?
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_02: And so I like the idea that you're coming with this to this, you know, place with your experience.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you've been through the whole process of the brand, uh, you know, making it huge.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, you know the whole ordeal.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: And that's something that I think um, you know, as anybody, whether you're a new brand founder, an existing founder, you want to elevate your game, that's something you always want because whoever you're partnering with, whether it's the lab or you may want to make sure they're on the same page with you, right?
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's kind of like a no-brainer, but oftentimes I hear about these stories, these horror stories of someone saying, Oh, well, you know, I spent all this money and then you know, my line was just not successful.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_02: And it just makes me wonder like, where did it go wrong?
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_02: You know, what did they do that was so wrong?
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_02: So that definitely answers a lot of my questions, everything you said here.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, so I just wanna, you know, I just want to ask you for any advice you have for um anyone listening, you know, who wants to, you know, maybe like learn more about starting a lab or a manufacturing company or any business.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, just words of wisdom you can offer, you know, for motivation.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_02: Because I know that can help us a lot, especially these days.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, definitely.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so as a serial entrepreneur, um, you know, I started my first company at age 23.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and advice that I give to um especially uh someone that was an employee of a company for many years, maybe in beauty industry, and then now taking the courage to start something on their own, it could be anything, uh any business, uh it could be branding or even opening up a restaurant, whatever brand business that you want to start.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I am always encouraged them, you know, hey, you know, life is short.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_01: If you have something that you have a great idea, go for it and take that risk and take into the next step.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: I really um uh people who do that, I I always encourage them and support them.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the advice that I give is in the beginning, when you have this idea that you always thought about in your brain, that that you really feel that's a great idea, no one is really doing it, I always say to them, think about this.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: What is a supply and demand?
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: Meaning, how many people are looking for that, but then there is no supply?
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_01: Keep that in mind.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: So if there is something that everybody needs, but there is only a few companies that's delivering, you will become successful.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_01: But if your idea is something there's no really demand for it, but it's a great idea, then I would recommend don't do it because there's no demand for it.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: So, for example, pharmacy, same thing, there was a demand for that, and that was the what the trend was to sustainability, clean.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_01: That was the direction.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: So you create a demand, there was demand and we delivered.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_01: Same thing with i my labs.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there was demand for indie beauty brands are born everywhere today.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many brands that are born, but then there was a demand there, but there was nobody supplying well.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_01: These beauty brands, there was a demand, but there's no manufacturing company to supporting these small brands.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: So supply and demand.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: So if there is a great idea, and there you know there is a demand and no one is really doing it, don't think too much.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when you think too much, you're not gonna do it.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_01: Just think about, just go for it.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_01: And then just get to the first base.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_01: Don't think about how I am gonna get to second base, third base, home.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_01: When you think too much, then you end up not doing it because it becomes complicated and you get discouraged.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, my advice to anyone who's going out there, you have a great idea, there's demand for it, but there's minimum supply for it, just do it.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: Just only think about getting to first base, and you figure out after that how to get to second base.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_01: So that is my advice.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_02: I love that advice.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_02: I really love that you said that.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, 100%.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_02: I'm behind that all the way, David.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think a lot of people hesitate.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we hesitate as just human beings.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's in our nature to just be like, oh, well, I'll do it later, or no, I'll do it, you know.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_02: No, but you're absolutely right.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_02: You got to go for it.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for giving that advice.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_02: And I hope you, everyone listening, I hope you really take David's advice to heart because he's so, so right.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think in all aspects of life, you have to, you have to know.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, if you know, you know, and you just go for it and hope for the best.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, but thank you, David.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_02: This has been so awesome to chat with you and and get your input.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I love what you're doing.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_02: I like I said, uh, you know, if I um if I end up uh finding that product I really want to create, you're gonna be the first person I contact.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_02: So um stay, you know, just keep your eyes out for my email.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_02: I might be I might be doing that sooner than you think.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm looking forward to meeting you in person someday.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, likewise.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_02: I would it would be such an honor to meet you and everyone listening.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_02: I hope you guys learned a lot in this episode.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_02: And if you have any questions for um David's team or the iLabs team, please let us know.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_02: We will definitely pass any questions along.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I really urge all of you out there who are thinking about starting a line, check out iLabs.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_02: Don't go to people who don't know what you're trying to do.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's really the fundamental, I think, from what David's told us here.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I agree that you know, you gotta go to the people who know what they're doing and his team knows what they're doing.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_02: And I would love to see, you know, some new entrepreneurs come out of the show, hopefully, and get inspired.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you again, and I will be back next time.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, bye-bye.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_02: Hey guys, so I hope you love that episode.
• 40:30
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• 40:35
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• 41:35
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