Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / Key learnings from bootstrapping her beauty brand + how to price your products with Rosen’s Jamika Martin

Transcript

Key learnings from bootstrapping her beauty brand + how to price your products with Rosen’s Jamika Martin · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  This is Jamaica Martin for Female Startup Club. Hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. I'm your host, Joon Roshin, and joining me on the show today is Jamaica Martin, founder of Rosen Skincare.
• 0:24
  Rosen is a company creating the next generation of acne care. It's made for the Gen Z and millennial demographic in mind with out of the box branding, language and price points. In this episode, we're talking about Jamaica's journey of bootstrapping her beauty brand and how she's approached working capital, a quick tutorial on how to approach pricing your products in the beauty space and the key to building a strong foundation when it comes to marketing.
• 0:49
  And while I've got you here, we do touch on the power of Facebook and Instagram ads in the show. So if you own an online business and you're wanting to get into the swing of things when it comes to performance marketing, you might find some value in the ads MBA, which you can find on our website at female startup club.com. But let's get stuck into it. This is Jamaica for Female Startup Club.
• 1:11
  Jamika, hi, and welcome to the Female Startup Club podcast. Hi, excited to be here. How are you? I'm okay. I'm not great because I've had this stupid cough that I've just been telling you about. But aside from that, I'm great. Super excited to talk to you. This is definitely the best part of my day, jumping on these podcasts. So I'm excited to get stuck into it. Could you start by introducing yourself and what your business is?
• 1:37
  Yeah, for sure. So I'm Jamika. I'm the founder of Rosen Skin Care. Simply put, Rosen's just really working to create the next generation of mass acne care. Really, our goal is to kind of make that mass acne aisle just a cleaner, more enjoyable place to shop. Totally. Love the more enjoyable bit there. I have actually already read this, so I know the story, but for anyone listening or tuning in at the moment, could you tell us the story behind your brand name?
• 2:06
  Yeah. So my middle name is Rose. So that's where a lot of it comes from. Honestly, when I first started Rosen, we're Rose Gold Cosmetics. And like my LLC is still under that name, just because I always wanted to kind of keep Rosen the name. But pretty early on, this is like super early when I was like thinking about, you know, like what this was going to be. It was really clear that there was just like,
• 2:28
  Didn't fit the vibe, didn't fit the aesthetic that I wanted. Also, just a lot of people thought it would be makeup. And so it was super confusing. And so I actually did a class in undergrad where we were able to work on a business. I was like, hey, I'm working on this right now. Let's just do this for the project. And fortunately, everybody signed on because I got to work on my business for the whole quarter. And so...
• 2:49
  We kind of like brainstormed a bunch of other names. And I think we ended up doing a Google form and one of them was Rosen, which actually originally came from like Rose Naturals, shortened. But, you know, I thought the Rosen was just a lot cleaner, super minimal, and then also was able to fit into a unisex kind of like branding and yeah, just like super simple and effective and able to be used in a lot of different realms. And so that's kind of like where the name came from.
• 3:16
  Love it. I always think it's so interesting to understand the reasoning for the name. And it's something that I actually have never asked before. So today's the day that I'm starting that. Okay, I always love to start at the beginning, rewinding, you know, a couple of years back, where does your entrepreneurial journey start?
• 3:37
  actual like doing something entrepreneurial. I mean, in a full fledged way, of course, Rosen's kind of the first thing. But I mean, before that, I've always been fairly entrepreneurial. And I think after I started Rosen, I kind of realized that me and my cousin would try to make jewelry or try to make
• 3:53
  t-shirts or all these different things in like middle school. I had found a notebook from like fifth grade where I had all these pencil pouches or like those gummy things you would put on pencils and I would like sell them to people. So very early on, kind of like had that path and both of my parents, they were like more like service based. So like,
• 4:12
  landscaping, house cleaning, stuff like that. But they were obviously very entrepreneurial as well. So I think that's probably where a lot of that came from. None of it really obviously ever panned out. I think I had a lot of ideas before I started Rosen, even in college. But for some reason, I always just wanted somebody to co-sign. Like, yeah, dude, let's do it. And for whatever reason, I didn't do that with Rosen. And I just dove in and got started. But I've always had just a ton of ideas and thought it would be cool to do stuff.
• 4:38
  but more so from like a side hustle perspective and kind of just like shifted my focus with Rose and ended up diving in full force. What was it that started getting you thinking about acne and why the skincare industry?
• 4:52
  Yeah. And I think this kind of is probably part of the reason why I ended up launching on my own and just kind of like going for it. But I have such close ties to like the acne space just because my own personal journey with breakouts. I've dealt with acne prone skin for most of my life, pretty much started breaking out in like fifth or sixth grade, did all the dermatologists, did all the estheticians, pretty much all the treatments I did like ran the gamut of like, you know, whatever they say is going to help.
• 5:18
  breakouts, I tried it. And I ended up doing Accutane twice, just like super intense prescription drug trying to get kids clear skin. And most of the time works. Most of the time, you don't have to do it twice. And very like a few times is it like you do it twice, and you're still kind of dealing with it. And so that was kind of the space I was in. And really the key point of inspiration of like, let's do something about this. Because of course, they had all these ties to acne, but it
• 5:45
  I want to start something here. But I think it was after that second round of Accutane, I was in college and I just remember kind of like, all right, my skin is breaking out again. Let me go to Target and like go to the acne aisle. Like that's where I shopped, where I could afford and where I knew there's a lot of stuff for breakouts that like mass space. And pretty much seeing the exact same brands that I shopped since like sixth grade, like the same brand, same packaging, same formulas. And at the time, I mean, of course, we've seen so much go on in beauty between now and then, but...
• 6:15
  At the time, there definitely was a lot going on within the clean beauty space. And that was something I was personally interested in. And so I just remember being like, wow, there's literally so many cool brands out here. There's so much like, whether it's branding or ingredients or like all this stuff going on, and there's like nothing happening in the acne space. And like,
• 6:32
  I don't know. It just like made me feel like super bad about myself and my skin. And also just like very inspired of like, why isn't there anything going on in this space? And that's what triggered the start to like, yeah, let's get working on this and let's try to tackle this industry. Wow. And what year are we talking here to get some perspective?
• 6:51
  Yeah. So when I kind of like had that initial discovery, that was like 2016. So I was the second year in college. And basically I would sit on that idea and play around with it, think about it a little bit before like launching in 2017, which is when I ended up graduating college. And to clarify, you didn't really have any background in skincare, right? You hadn't made or formulated products. You had no sort of formal training. You just got started.
• 7:21
  Exactly. Yeah. My major was business economics, which is basically like how the economy works, plus like two accounting classes. So it wasn't really like business. But UCLA did get an entrepreneurship minor while I was there. So that definitely helped with just the idea of starting a business. And it was at that point, like I had this idea. And then I didn't end up doing the minor, but I took some courses in entrepreneurship, I think like two or three. And then I ended up graduating. So I had like a little bit of a baseline there.
• 7:49
  But I didn't have cosmetic experience. Obviously had a lot of experience on the consumer side of like what I wanted to see and what my experience was. But as far as formulation and production, and that was all stuff that I kind of just learned on my own, whether it's like independent coursework or just like a lot of trial and error and just like continuing to do more research around it and figuring it out on my own. Wow. Amazing. Yeah.
• 8:14
  And I'm wondering what the people in your life around you were saying about this when you were kind of, you know, planting the seed, like, oh, I'm going to start this business. Yeah. I've been very fortunate, especially like my immediate family, like my parents, I've
• 8:28
  I have been fairly independent even since when I was younger. So it was kind of like, we trust you because like decision-making. So like, you know, go ahead and do whatever you want. I think the only thing that I would say was like, I don't even know if I want to say like negative or like not fully supportive. It's like,
• 8:45
  Oh, you should do this or you should go be a doctor or go get your MBA or things like that. And it's like, no, well, I'm doing something right now. You know, it's flashy or I'm trying to figure it out. And so it was just kind of like not taken super seriously early on, which I think is totally understandable. And I think whether immediate family or other folks as well, I had pretty much like, you know, always done good in school.
• 9:07
  I graduated college early. I feel like there's a lot of trust in my decision-making. I'm like, Jameka's a smart person. She's going to figure it out. And so I think I was very fortunate because I talk to people all the time where it's like, how did you convince your parents? I graduated college and I was barely making any money trying to figure out how to pay rent. And so it was, of course, not what I expected when I graduated. And I have a lot of people who are like, how did you try to get them to understand them? I'm like,
• 9:33
  I didn't really have to try to get them to understand. Everybody was pretty much supportive and like trusted my judgment there. Nobody thought it was going to be like, this is such a great idea. This is going to take off. Like, I don't think anybody thought that by any means. But there's a cool, that's cool. You're doing that. Like, you know, nobody really cared that much. And then, of course, as it grows, everybody's really excited and invested in the growth. But I didn't have a ton of pushback, which I think I was definitely fortunate for.
• 10:00
  Totally. And I imagine that kind of confidence from other people in you really lifts your own confidence as well, because there is no people questioning you or being like, oh, are you sure? It's a nice bit of a boost, I guess you could say.
• 10:14
  Yeah, for sure. I think that I've definitely always had that from my family or from people who are like close to me. And then I think, I don't know, I've just always felt like very powerful and very competent, like able to make those decisions, which has been, you know, a product of just like how I was raised. Amazing. So what were the key steps for you in getting started and building the brand?
• 10:36
  Yeah. So super early on, I will say like that time before I graduated was just me like, what's going on? What am I doing? What is this idea? I think the key things that kind of came in after I launched, and I say launched because it was just kind of like when I went into it full time, but I didn't have any customers or anything like that. But I think the key steps there for me early on, focusing on marketing and stuff like that, I think I tried to do all the
• 11:06
  And then I was like, you know what? I'm going to focus on Instagram. I'm going to focus on influencers on Instagram. And having that focus allowed me to just get a little bit more dialed in with like returns and what is marketing looks like and what makes sense. That was definitely a crucial step for me. Because I remember early on, like kind of doing a lot of things. And I have a tendency to like think things through and through and through. And like, I know it's fact. And then it's like, when I say it out loud, I'm like, oh yeah, that's a good point. Like that's, I should do more of that. You know, there was just this time when I was sitting with a mentor.
• 11:35
  right after I graduated. And she's like, okay, so like you have five customers, like where did they come from? I'm like, you know, we keep getting traffic from YouTube, but I had sent a friend like a package and she did a YouTube video on it like months ago. And then she's like, okay, so keep doing that. And I'm like, oh yeah, that's a good idea. So I just like, that was very crucial for me to just like really focus in and understand where people are coming from and replicate that. And then I think the next thing
• 12:05
  And of course, it's iterated so much from the early stages. But I ended up working with a consultant early on on that, which was very hard for me because I didn't have a lot of money. But it was just like that was such a reassuring experience because I felt like I continued to run circles around like, this is who we are. This is what we do. This is who I serve. But I couldn't ever say it very succinctly. And I couldn't clearly articulate it to people. Yeah.
• 12:30
  And so once I worked with that person, I felt like everything was very clear. This is who we are. This is what we do. And this is who we serve. And it's easier to have those conversations. And I just felt like as the brand continued to get tightened up, it was just easier to reach more people and expand from there. And so I would say those are the core areas that really impacted our growth and our trajectory was just focusing on marketing and understanding who we were as a brand.
• 12:55
  Hmm. That's so interesting. When you say you worked with this consultant, what kind of consultant is that? Is that like a brand consultant or? Yes. And how did you find that person? How did you even know what to look for? No. Yeah. I think, I mean, I'm very fortunate. It kind of like fell into my lap. So I, right when I graduated, I did a summer accelerator, like startup UCLA's program at UCLA, obviously, and they have lots of resources and they also have a summer accelerator. Yeah.
• 13:22
  At the end of that, we did a pitch and this woman came up and it was kind of like, you know, I do branding and like consulting services and things like that. She has kind of pivoted and she does a lot of like business coaching. I literally still work with her to this day, but she was like very into branding and all that stuff early on. And so she came upon me and then it was just like so perfect because I wasn't really thinking about it. Honestly, I was consistently thinking about branding, but I was not really thinking about somebody to help me in that space.
• 13:51
  And so it was just so beneficial and I didn't really have to look for her. And now so often when people are struggling with branding, I will recommend that to them because I just remember during that accelerator kind of just continuing to flow through like, who are we? Who are we? Who are we? And like just thinking about it and like I knew it, but I couldn't iron it down. And I just did a few sessions with her and it was just like me.
• 14:13
  rambling about who we were and all this stuff for like 30 minutes. And then she'd be like, okay, cool. Like this is who you serve. And it just cleaned it up and made expanding the brand or tweaking it so much easier from that point forward. And just like so crucial, but yeah, very grateful for it. Cause I think it definitely made a difference when it came to like how we talked to our customers and how we kind of marketed and stuff like that. Hmm. Yeah. That's so interesting. And I think it's like,
• 14:39
  It's great when you can meet those kind of people who you can tell them all the thoughts and they'll just like whip it up into a nice little package for you and be like, this is the concise version of what you're saying and hears it back so you understand it really clearly yourself. I love that. Yeah. It's the most amazing people because I feel like.
• 14:56
  More often than not, I'm kind of just like, am I clear? Like, does this make sense? Like, I feel like I'm trying to explain stuff and somebody who can just like wrap it up in a bow is always helpful. Totally. I feel like you're speaking my language. That's like something that I really struggle with as well. When someone asks me the direct question around certain things, I can be like, of course, I know it. Like inherently, I know it, but I don't know like that quick one liner kind of thing. So interesting. Yeah. Yeah.
• 15:21
  I want to dig a bit further into the marketing side of things. We love to talk about marketing on the show, especially in those early days when you are really trying to figure out what's working. I know you mentioned influencer marketing. You obviously mentioned the YouTube thing. What were the kinds of key drivers for growth in the beginning more specifically?
• 15:41
  Yeah. So the YouTube thing, I think, influenced us in terms of like influencers and what that meant. Really, for the first year, year and a half, all I did was focusing on Instagram and gifted influencers. And that's all I focused on. I tried stuff with Facebook ads. I didn't know what I was doing. It's just very easy to dump money there. And when you're bootstrapped and you're not making a
• 16:06
  Even $5 a day is like, I don't know if I keep doing this. And so it was just like felt super risky and I didn't know. And so I was like, you know what, I'm just going to pull back on that so I know a little bit more about what I'm doing. So yeah, we literally just consistently posted on social posts.
• 16:21
  We would do some partnerships with brands. I don't think we did a ton, but we would try to, you know, kind of do like bundles or collabs or things like that with other brands. I would always try to reach out with brands and influencers. I always tell people like my partnerships were always a little bit bigger than where we were just to increase the likelihood of working together. Still have that increased reach. But so 5000 followers.
• 16:43
  you know, maybe that 7 to 10,000 follower range as far as brands or influencers I was reaching out to, I wasn't going after people with 50, 100, 500,000 followers, just because there was less likelihood that they're even going to respond to me. And then also, there's less likelihood, they're not going to do a gifted post, they're going to need to get paid. And they're much less likely to just try out your product if you're like, who is this brand? And so that was pretty much all I focused on. And I would say, you know, I remember kind of like,
• 17:10
  starting with a handful of influencers. And then I remember having a list like, I'm going to send out 10 packages this month. I'm going to send out 15 this month and just slowly scaling that up because it was working for us. And it did a good job of getting us to a point where we were a little bit more consistent. I'll say, I think the first month I made money, I think we made like 1700 bucks online. And then I think probably in that first year, year and a half,
• 17:35
  We probably got to, I'd say like $8,000 or $10,000 a month in revenue was kind of like where we were sitting at. And that was all just like gifted influencers and like keeping chugging on Instagram. We didn't have to use Twitter. We didn't use Pinterest. We didn't do anything. I think I had like maybe just got started with like retargeting Facebook ads towards that tail end. No YouTube influencers. Yeah, that was kind of like all we focused on.
• 17:59
  Just to backtrack one second, when you say the bundling and doing partnerships with other brands, do you just mean like putting co-branded stuff online or them just being like, hey, we'll do a package that you can buy with their products and your products online?
• 18:13
  Yeah. So a few things. I mean, one, and I believe it was within that first year, year and a half, was kind of like a physical bundle. So like they sent me a bunch of their products and we put together like one of our serums and one of their face scrubs and like sold those as a kit. I would do giveaways with brands. It was a little bit later on, but something that ended up doing pretty well for us, too.
• 18:34
  was giveaways with influencers, but only on their page. We weren't running giveaways all the time, but we would have people running giveaways on their page all the time just to increase our reach and our following. And so that was something that did well for us. But yeah, for bundles, kind of like giveaways or the physical package together with another brand.
• 18:53
  Got it. Cool. So interesting. And so if we think about, you know, obviously there's a few years in the mix here, but if we just think like big picture, what were the kind of quantum leaps that you were able to make when it comes to marketing and really accelerating that growth and becoming that snowball effect?
• 19:11
  Yeah. I think that really honing in on the influencers and getting to a place where it's like, I understand who's going to perform for us. I understand what types of influencers, what types of posts. That was a big thing for us. Getting a handle on Facebook ads, that second time around with just retargeting. So if you went to our website, you're going to get hit with an ad. And that did well for us. And then the next shift, I would say, was us able to expand to colder audiences. So lookalikes, things like that. Like,
• 19:38
  Not necessarily people that were familiar with our brand, but were similar in a way. And drive sales off that was really exciting. So that was the first time I remember driving sales off a cold audience on Facebook. I would say those are the biggest shifts that have been in marketing. But really, our growth, aside from some of the stuff that happened last year, has been fairly incremental. It hasn't been like, we turned this ad on and it went crazy. It's always just been a consistent chug month over month of growth.
• 20:06
  which is, of course, still like exciting, but no one thing that kind of like shot everything out. And I think that's also really key because it's like you've just got to keep persevering. You've got to keep chipping away every single day. And it's those small actions that you continually do. And then over time, you look back and you're like, holy shit, how did we end up here? This is working. This is amazing.
• 20:28
  Yeah, exactly. I think that more you hear like all the time, but like, you know, kind of brands come into a little bit more relevance and it feels like, oh my God, like how they blow up so fast. Or like even sometimes hindsight is 20, 20, like you might be looking back and like, you might've known about them a year or two ago and you're like,
• 20:44
  wow, they're so huge now, like what happened? But it's like, it's just that consistent chug builds on each other. So, you know, like 10%, 15%, 20% growth going from $1,700 to $2,000 a month is not like a huge chug. But then once you start kind of like making those chugs, as you get bigger, it's just more significant. And so just really trying to focus on that consistent growth, which can get hard. I've definitely hit plateaus and I'm learning to get more comfortable with those plateaus and what that means because a constant linear growth isn't,
• 21:14
  real or isn't accessible, like it's not going to happen forever. And so getting more comfortable with that, but at the same time, just trying to continue to incrementally improve and grow your brand, I think is going to be the thing that before you know it, everybody will say that you just shot up out of nowhere, but you've really just been consistently growing the whole time.
• 21:32
  Totally. And I also imagine, you know, in your case or in some cases, you really focused on Instagram. You totally nailed it. Then you stacked on the ads. You started nailing it. And then I imagine adding in another channel, nailing that, adding it on. And just once you've got it stacked and you've got that full omni-channel approach, next thing you know, the wheels are in motion everywhere and you're seeing that growth.
• 21:53
  Yeah, for sure. That's literally exactly how we've approached things. And I will say as we grow and we have more resources or we think about capital or things like that, then maybe it opens up the opportunity of like, okay, now we can trust Twitter and TikTok or we can do like TikTok and YouTube. And like you have more available things out, but I'm definitely somebody that I try not to get on a platform or in a different channel or things like that.
• 22:19
  Unless we're going to do it all the way, because it's just if you're half in, half out, you have TikTok, you're posting like, you know, maybe once a week, you kind of don't really respond to people in there. It's like you might as well not do it. You might as well put all that energy into Instagram or Twitter or whatever you are using. And so I'm very big on like, if I am going to go on a platform, I need to go in it with the full ability to test and figure out what works for us there. Mm hmm.
• 22:41
  And so of course, if you're smaller or still growing, you have limited time and resources to be able to do that. And so it might make your testing stretched out a little bit more, but I think, you know, just kind of like getting good at something like, sweet, we know what works on this room. We know how to like, just kind of like chug that and like, let it go. Let's figure out like how we can start testing somewhere else or whatever. Are you guys doing anything on TikTok or Clubhouse or any other new platform that I haven't heard of yet?
• 23:10
  We want to get in on TikTok. I mean, of course, I think it's just interesting because I feel like I've definitely used TikTok personally. And it's like, it's not like this super new platform anymore. But I still feel like there's so much opportunity there. Like it still feels new in the terms of like, you can still pretty much grow a lot on there. And so we want to get into that. The same thing, though, just making sure, okay, do you have the resource line? Like who's doing the content? Who's doing all this to make sure like we have everything aligned consistently post on there and keep up with everything? Yeah.
• 23:39
  Clubhouse a little bit. I did my first Clubhouse talk the other day. We haven't really done anything as a brand on there. And I personally debate going back and forth how deep I want to be on their phone and add another platform into my mix, just how much I want to hop on there and all that stuff. But it's there. And it's something I've been thinking about, but not too deeply.
• 23:58
  I feel the same with Clubhouse. It's like I love to dabble in it, but then I'm like, oh, gosh, can I add another thing when I'm trying to do all the other things as it is, kind of the vibe of overwhelm from all the platforms. Totally. I get it.
• 24:13
  A lot of beauty brands that I've spoken to so far have gone down that VC money route. And from what I could see online, you haven't done that to date. How are you managing the hurdle that most seem to bump into when it comes to MOQs, large MOQs, scaling into retailers and that kind of the cash flow element?
• 24:33
  Yeah. So we haven't taken any equity or raise money or anything in that sense. We have done some stuff, I will say, with like ClearBank, PayPal, Working Capital, you know, a lot of online only kind of like loan or
• 24:49
  I guess line of credit would be maybe a better term, which are super easy, super straightforward. You just like sync your Shopify and they're like, cool, you make this much, you're eligible for this much. I will say as we grow, we have more access to other capital. It's not like the best thing. Definitely hurts the cash a little bit more as opposed to like a more traditional form of debt. So those are some things that have come in. And then I think also just understanding our cash a lot more.
• 25:13
  I really probably didn't understand our cash flow very well until like midway through last year. I got to a place where we were scaling and we were growing. And I was like, man, we're making like much more money. Like I think April, yeah, when COVID started, it was like, we immediately kind of like doubled our revenue from March to April. And I just remember like, it still feels, I was like, it still feels as tight every single week as it did in March.
• 25:41
  as it did in February. And it was like, we were consistently making more and more money.
• 25:45
  But it was like, I feel like I'm relying on how much I'm going to do in sales today, tomorrow, whatever, to make sure I can pay for stuff today and tomorrow. And so it was just like not accurately understanding that cash flow. And so that was huge for me to really understand our cash flow a lot more to understand if I'm looking at the next three months, I should pretty much know what the bank account was going to look like over the next three months. And that was something I just never had the foresight to do or really understand that
• 26:13
  So that was very crucial. I think I also could have probably done a lot more earlier on if I had understood that because I spent the first two, two and a half years of our business scaling, making more money, but still playing it pretty tight because I just didn't understand how to manage the cash flow properly. So I think with that, I think with some of these kind of like a little bit more accessible debt platforms, we've been able to kind of swing it and make it happen. And
• 26:37
  you know, as a bootstrap brand that came from a very small bootstrap. I was making, you know, I think our early credit card was like 1200 bucks. You know, if I had a couple hundred, you know, each month for my own, like babysitting money, I'd put it in, like come from very small, scrappy beginnings.
• 26:54
  I try to stretch my dollars as much as I can. And to the point earlier of like, I don't have the luxury of testing out, like let's test out these Facebook ads. And if they don't work, well, we learned that this didn't work or let's test out TikTok. And if it works, it goes crazy. But if it doesn't work, oh, well, it's like, I don't have that luxury because I'm just on a tighter rope of like, we got this much capital. And if I can't make this capital make money, then it's going to get hard. So it definitely is a much tighter rope to walk.
• 27:23
  It's been great for me to just really learn a lot about the business and be super scrappy. And also, of course, get to a point where like I have, if I do raise money, I have a better valuation or I have so much more experience because it's like, OK, like, look at the point we've grown to. I still have all the equity and there's a lot of great things in there. But looking forward and thinking about now.
• 27:45
  I think I've proven to myself or to others, if I do raise money of like, obviously, I know how to kind of like run and scale the business. Scaling to another level definitely is a different story and figuring out like where I fit in and not journey. But the pace of growth is really and I think ideally when you raise money, that's what a lot of folks want to kind of put money in.
• 28:05
  But yeah, I would say just kind of like some of those debt, like loan lending platforms. And again, the ones that were super accessible, because I didn't know anything about finance. I had to go to a banker. I knew how to go to a bank, but like how to approach them, like try to get a loan and what I should prepare. Like I didn't know how to do any of that stuff. And so it was just as easy as obviously a click of a button with some of those other platforms like ClearBank or Shopify or whatever. And so I leaned on that and really understanding my cash flow. And I think that has really opened up a lot of opportunities for us.
• 28:35
  And it also sounds like having that mentality and being in that situation just forces you to be super lean and continually remain lean. And if you do raise money in the future, you'll be able to have that leanness, you know, to your approach.
• 28:49
  Yeah, you definitely are super lean, super scrappy and figuring out like you want to make your dollar stretch. And of course, it's definitely a mindset. There's a ton of founders who will raise money early on and still have that mindset. But if you launch and you have two million in the bank, you're probably a little bit more free than somebody who's like started with 50 in the bank. And then eventually they raise two million. And, you know, it's just a different mindset. And I also just think there's so much to learn. You know, some people...
• 29:18
  are just like so well equipped and so experienced and all this stuff. But I think back to even if somebody gave me a hundred thousand in the first year that I ran it,
• 29:28
  I would have probably ran through that money. I just didn't know what I was doing. And so it's like, just to have this now of like, I know what to do. Like, I know exactly what to do with this capital. And of course, I'm sure I'll look back on this in like five years and be like, I just know so much more. And I feel so much more confident in the decisions that I would make with capital. And the thought of, you know, somebody handing me over that much money early on scares me because there's a lot of me just like figuring stuff out. I think a lot of people take that path and some figure it out and some don't.
• 29:58
  learning it on my own was definitely beneficial. And I am very grateful to have kind of done it that way. Absolutely. It sounds like it's been the right pathway for sure. I have a specific beauty industry question for you that came from one of my female startup club listeners. She's a business owner and she was wanting to know how beauty brands typically approach pricing their
• 30:28
  I try to aim for like a 70, 75% margin on my products. And so that might dip a little bit when you go into wholesale, but you can bring in other things like the scale. It gets cheaper when you make more products. But if you want to do wholesale, maybe you want to do D2C like forever and never like sell in retailers or stuff like that. If you're selling in retailers, off the bat, they're taking half at least.
• 30:54
  And so if I have a product that's 20 bucks, you know, that means the retailer is going to pay us 10 bucks for it. I need to make sure that I'm making money on that $10. And so you want to have a good margin there. And so when you're taking in your costs, you know, what are the ingredient costs? What are the packaging costs? The labor costs? You need to know like everything that goes into making that product. How much does it cost to make?
• 31:15
  and making sure you're getting a good margin on that wholesale cost. And then, of course, on the D2C cost. D2C, you know, of course, you make that full 20 bucks, but then you have different fulfillment. You're paying more per product to fulfill because it's being shipped out per package.
• 31:30
  You might have like a cool mailer or stickers or all these other things that kind of go into DTC versus wholesale. So there's just some different costs that come in at different angles. But I would say just you got to make sure you're making money off of that. And I would say also, though, keeping in mind, depending on how small you are.
• 31:47
  You can look at what costs are going to look like down the road to see if you're going to hit economies of scale. So you might have like a horrible margin right now because it's like I make 20 products at a time. And if you're making 20 products at a time, it probably costs a lot of money to make those because it's probably just so much more expensive.
• 32:03
  to get those ingredients. But you might be able to say like, hey, if I start ordering 50 pounds of clay, or if I start ordering 500 pounds of clay at a time, then it goes from being 20 cents an ounce to two cents an ounce. So it's like, yeah, my margins might suck right now, but down the road, I'm going to be super solid.
• 32:22
  Don't project out too far because you don't want to be like, you know, not making any money for too long. I would say, I don't know, maybe like when you're kind of like pushing like 500, 1000 units, you should be at a place where like you have pretty solid margins and it should only improve from there. And then the last thing I'll say is just kind of look at like who's your competition and what's your pricing look like there.
• 32:41
  Do you want to be luxury? Do you want to be like super mass? Do you want to be, you know, of course, there's this area of like mass siege, which is kind of where we fall, you know, who are your competitors and do you want to be priced higher than them competitively or lower than them? And if you're going for like a super affordable price point, like the lower your pricing gets, I think, you know, the less creative you have to be with formulas. Of course, if your formulas are a little bit more
• 33:05
  engaging or just more expensive to make or things like that, you're going to price higher and it makes sense. But if you're kind of like be the cheapest mask, like I want it to be so easy. I want people, it's like three bucks and it's like, you know, okay, your ingredients probably aren't going to be there. Your packaging is going to be super basic or whatever, but just figuring out where you fall as far as competitors and stuff like that goes too.
• 33:22
  Mm, that's awesome. Thank you so much for that insight. I love that. Where is the business today and what does the future look like? Yeah, so today we are, you know, focusing on scale online and then really just trying to build out like a true omni-channel brand. Like I mentioned, some of the early stages for us really looked like me going into Target and looking at that acne space. And so we are currently carried with Target online and then we're carried in like a little over 250 locations.
• 33:52
  in the States. And so really just trying to continue to perform in those stores and scale to more stores within Target and looking into what does retail expansion look like for us as a mass acne brand, a little bit higher price point, Mastige, you know, is it kind of an Ulta play or something like that as we think about next year? Are we thinking about places like
• 34:13
  Rite Aid or Walmart, what does that mean for our supply chain and pricing and all that stuff? So that's kind of like where my head's been at right now, continuing to, of course, drive and push growth. I think that I've definitely grown at like a solid pace, but I've been very fortunate that from the time that I launched, which was like 2017 to now, I've been very fortunate.
• 34:32
  or maybe a year ago, there hasn't been a ton of players within the acting space. There was Curology, who was just like inherently very different from us. But I think we are seeing a lot of players kind of like enter that space is becoming a lot more exciting to talk about and help treat breakouts.
• 34:47
  something that retailers are excited about and something that, you know, I see new brands kind of entering the space regularly. So now I'm ready to pick up the pace on how we grow and really enter this space in a big way and be a leader in this space and just not fall behind. That's my big goal right now is just making sure we're leading this new wave of mass acne and keeping up with all the other folks who might've raised a ton of money and making sure we're keeping pace with them. Yeah. Amazing. Kicking those goals, keeping that ball moving.
• 35:17
  What advice do you have for women who have a big idea and want to start their own business? I'd say just go for it. I think that for most people, it's just upside. You know, when I launched, I of course didn't have a family or like a lot of payments. Like I was just paying rent or anything like that. But it was also just like, I also wasn't making any money. Like I also had to like tutor and do stuff like that on the side to make sure I could sustain myself.
• 35:46
  And so I just think there's nothing but upside. And I think really, the biggest thing, if you have this great novel idea, or whatever it is, make sure you're very clear on your differentiation, why you, it's a hard question. And I think people get sometimes upset by it or things like that. But
• 36:02
  If I'm looking at the competitors and I'm looking at you, why do I care about you? Getting people to change over is a big thing to do. And so I think a lot of times people don't think through that. They think it's a cool idea. They don't think about the effort it's going to take for people to chop them instead of somebody else. So really think about that and really challenge yourself. And yeah.
• 36:21
  ask yourself why anybody should care about you or what you're doing. And then I think just being focused, really try to focus and understand where growth is coming from, where customers are coming from, what you can do to improve, and just replicate that and do it over and over and over and do that to scale. I think the less focused you are and the more broad-based you are, it's going to feel like you're doing stuff, but you're really just doing busy work and you're not moving yourself forward at all. And so I would say, you know, if you do jump into it, yeah, just really understand why people should choose you and really understand.
• 36:51
  why you're growing or why you're improving. And if you're not how to improve and try to ask other people how you can improve and always try to bring that feedback in. And I think it'll be solid. Love it. That's awesome. Thank you so much. Okay. We are up to the six quick questions, part of the episode. Some of it we might've covered, but I always ask the same six questions at the end. So question number one is what's your why? Why do you do what you do? I think my why is just folks like me, people who grew up hating their skin and
• 37:20
  and looking in the mirror and like literally crying. I think that that's my why of just seeing the impact that I can have on individuals. Of course, it's easy for me to get caught up in like, you know, let's grow by X amount, let's hit this many sales and stuff like that. But then there's times where I really get to connect with,
• 37:35
  individuals who use Rosen who are impacted by Rosen and just seeing those individual stories and seeing so many parallels in my early journey with skincare and acne that's definitely kind of like what keeps me inspired and why I do all of this and why I want to continue to grow it. Amazing. Question number two is what's been the number one marketing moment that's made the business pop?
• 37:59
  I would say definitely, I think just everything that happened last year with Black Lives Matter, that was kind of like the first big pop in sales and just like a lot of exposure and everything almost overnight. And so that's definitely kind of the biggest thing. Amazing.
• 38:18
  Question number three is where do you hang out to get smarter? What are you reading or listening to or subscribing to these days? Yeah. I mean, I think I get smarter as I talk to other founders and as I connect with other people within the space.
• 38:35
  I think that's where I always improve, whether it's mentors or whether it's people within the same space as I am. I try to spend a lot of my free time outside of the business, puzzles or whatever, stuff like that. And so, yeah, I would say just kind of connecting with other founders makes me smarter and better and like more well-equipped for handling Rosen. For sure. Love a good puzzle. Question number four is how do you win the day? What are your AM or PM rituals that keep you feeling happy and successful and motivated?
• 39:03
  Yeah, I think morning, I definitely just getting up when I need to. And then I'll kind of like go through, make coffee, drink some like juice and probiotics and kind of like do my skincare routine. That's kind of like my flow. And I like to get up early so that I can get started at a reasonable time because I do like a nice kind of like morning. And so...
• 39:23
  I found out I'm gonna take that morning no matter what. So if I wake up late, that just means my workday is going to start later. And so I think that kind of like sets me up for like a really nice pace. And then one thing that's been really nice is I just started going to a co-working space and they closed at 5.30, I think. And it's just like a great stop to my day. I have a tendency, like I can easily just like keep going and going. Like once I focus in, I'm like in on it. So that has been just like really good to like,
• 39:49
  all right, I stop and then I go to the gym and then I'll come home and just like a nice kind of like simmer down from working because I can get so focused. It feels like very tense sometimes for no reason. Like it's not a tense topic that I'll be like looking at like influencer marketing, but I'm just like, so in the zone. So having that stop and that slowdown is definitely helpful for me.
• 40:09
  Totally. And with you on the slow mornings, I really cherish a nice morning that's cozy and getting me started in a way that's not bombarded with marketing and advertising and text messages and emails and all the things that can hit you in the face really quickly. No, exactly. Question number five is if you only had a thousand dollars left in the business bank account, where would you spend it? Hmm. Yeah. Uh,
• 40:37
  True question. I think I wouldn't spend it if I only had a thousand dollars left. But if I needed to spend it, if I didn't have product, obviously, that's the first place it would go is inventory. But then if it's like, you know, I'd probably put it in Facebook ads. Good one. And last question. Question number six is how do you deal with failure? What's your mindset and approach?
• 41:00
  Yeah, for me, just figuring out how we can get better. I'm not a super emotional person or like fluctuate or you know, if something goes wrong, I'm like, cool, sweet. Let's figure out how we can improve it. Like, why did it happen? And let's figure out how we can make it not happen the next time. There's some quote, and I don't know who said it or whatever. But it's like one of the secrets to happiness is accepting things for what it is instead of what you think it should be. And so that's something that has helped me a lot. Like if something...
• 41:27
  goes wrong, it's like, well, I thought it should have went like this, but it didn't. And it is what it is. This is exactly what it is. So let's figure it out from here. So that's kind of like my mindset when something goes wrong or there's a failure, I guess. Love it. Love it. Jamaica, thank you so much for taking the time to come on Female Startup Club today and share your journey and all the things. I have loved chatting with you and I just love your brand. I think it's so fun and very, very cool. I'm excited to see what's coming next for you.
• 41:54
  Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm grateful you reached out and that there are folks, you know, who are interested in my journey and what we've got going on at Rosen. And hopefully this was cool and helpful or whatever to some folks. And, you know, my personal Instagram is always open. If people have questions, more specific things, they want to chat with me. I'm always hopping on calls with people just to try to help them out. I definitely think it's worthwhile kind of spreading that knowledge or making anything more accessible. So I appreciate it. And I'm glad to come in.
• 42:24
  For sure. I'm going to link your Instagram in the show notes for anyone who wants to slide into your DMs. Thank you. Perfect.
• 42:36
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 43:00
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 43:23
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.
• 43:39
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 44:04
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 44:26
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that. Thank you.