Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / (A quickie): Ex Frank Body co-founder Erika Geraerts on her new biz, Fluff, talking issues in the beauty industry, her purpose and why her team is her main priority

Transcript

(A quickie): Ex Frank Body co-founder Erika Geraerts on her new biz, Fluff, talking issues in the beauty industry, her purpose and why her team is her main priority · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  This is episode number three with Erica from Fluff Beauty.
• 0:16
  Welcome to a mini episode of Female Startup Club. In these mini eps, I ask successful female founders six easy questions, and today I'm chatting to Erica Gerarts. She's one of the original founders of the wildly successful business Frank Body, a $20 million business that's become a household name in Australia and around the world, to launching a new startup that's setting out to revolutionize the beauty industry and bring a whole new meaning to makeup for Gen Zs.
• 0:44
  Hey, we're back for another episode of Female Saddle Club with Erica. She is the founder of Fluff, the beauty brand made here in Australia and also overseas. And we're going to be asking her six questions for Female Saddle Club. Question number one is what's your why? So the reason that I started Fluff or the reason we still exist is because we're a
• 1:09
  constantly trying to ask and encourage girls and guys to discuss their issues with the beauty industry and to realise or build this awareness that beauty is so much more than make-up. And that kind of begs the question, well, what else is it?
• 1:25
  But that's the future for us, a discussion around it. And so we'd like to say that we're this beauty brand that is so insistent on talking to our audience and incorporating their thoughts and feelings into our brand. And what's something you've seen, like what's come up time and time again that you see as an issue? I think, well, first and foremost, it was just that people have beauty issues.
• 1:48
  good, bad, everything in between, and that they really want to be heard and they want to feel like brands are listening. So, so many beauty brands will say that they're democratic and that they listen and, you know, that's not a new concept, but I think brands who actually take what their audience is saying to them, not just around product development, but around messaging outside of just your typical sort of diversity and,
• 2:13
  aesthetics and appearances, but about the influence that brands are having and what they care about and what consumers should care about. That's what people want to hear and the discussions that they would want to have and that a lot of brands are avoiding because they're trying to just play it safe and be really kosher. Like animal testing or something like that? Like not even really animal testing. I feel like that's sort of a standard in beauty now and that you're crazy if...
• 2:39
  you know if that's not if you're not cruelty free um just things around um the conversations people have around beauty in terms of right now like the biggest narrative is that the more that you buy and the more that you wear the more that you're worth as opposed to saying like you're fine just as you are natural beauty you know i mean with
• 3:00
  we're called fluff because that's what we want people to know. Like it's all fluff. It's not necessary. It's just additional. It's nice to have. Yeah. And no other brand is saying that, you know, because that's actually saying to people, maybe don't buy our product or maybe buy less. But we're like, buy however much you need, really. Yeah. No, totally. I love that. It's like a really nice message to be putting out into the world instead of, you know, buy more, buy more, wear more, do all the things, look extra glam, like,
• 3:27
  blah, blah, blah, blah. I really like that. That's cool. Question number two is what was the thing that made your business pop somewhere along the way? I would say that fluff is this like very slow burn and maybe we're still waiting for the like huge pop, but we kind of really wanting it to be like strong growth, not this huge like spike and then it peters out. But the things that have been significant for us is
• 3:56
  like girls sharing these issues that we talk about as opposed to just talking about the product, which I think is really strong. My biggest fear is actually being like the next big hot trend because that means you'll really easily be replaced by the next next big hot trend. So we're really trying to build sort of things
• 4:13
  everyday products that people slowly incorporate into their routines and get used to and trust and don't actually want to replace with another brand or product. A lasting brand in the shelf, on the shelf. Exactly. I think the things that have worked for us again has been using
• 4:31
  like content that people is like different and new. And so the issues that we write about and publish on our site and then having a little bit of a different aesthetic on social people have shared and kind of liked that in there because it's been new and interesting. It's such an interesting brand. I was literally just watching over the shoulder of one of your guys and the team doing the website. And I was like,
• 4:52
  It's just so cool. You have to check it out. I'll link it. We think about everything that we do. Like there's meaning behind it all, which is nice. But yeah, the issues have been great, but I think the thing that people talk about is the packaging of our product and that it's so sort of luxe and weighted and different to what is out there. The heaviness of it is so nice. Yeah. So that sort of strategic decision around investing a lot more time and money and energy into that concept.
• 5:19
  actually really paid off for us because it's kind of become this iconic shape for us. So many girls love taking photos and videos in the compact itself because it's like a mirror and that's become really ownable for us and shareable and people love holding it. And the feeling it gives you as opposed to just like something that
• 5:37
  you apply and it makes you look good like the cloud makes you feel good it kind of reminds me of those like in a different way like a stress ball or something where you can hold it and it gives you a sense of calm well we base it off the grounding stone so oh my gosh yes i totally see that i love that if you haven't seen it um check out the website it's really really cool the shapes of the product it's like like oh we should show this one right here oh yeah it's like a little
• 6:03
  Yeah. So question number three is how do you win the day in terms of your mindset and your rituals and things that you do in the AM or the PM that keep you succeeding both in business and in your life?
• 6:17
  Well, I feel like my business and my life is so enmeshed, so it's like all in one. I don't really do stuff just specifically for work and then just for life. And I'm really interested in different processes or rituals. I always try new stuff. And if I meet anyone who's doing something new and they tell me something, I get really curious and want to try it. But the things that have really worked for me that, like, haven't changed over the years and that I wouldn't,
• 6:46
  recommend to other people because everyone has to find their own thing but what i think really works is waking up at the same time every day and for me that's super early but it doesn't have to be for everyone i wake up at 5 30
• 7:02
  Oh my God. But that's just because I go to yoga at 6.30 and it's like, then I have time to shut and not feel rushed. Yeah. And I've tried waking up later and I just feel like not good. And I'm a morning person. I wish I was a morning person. But it's like, even if you wake up at 7am, I just say wake up at 7am every day. Like that consistency in your wake up time and your body clock is really good. Yeah. Then, yeah, I'm a big fan of yoga, mostly for my brain and secondary obviously for my body. But,
• 7:31
  It just calms me like I can arrive at the mat with lots of worries and lots of concerns or all the things on my to-do list and by the time the class finishes, like all the unnecessary stuff has gone away and I might be left with just one significant thing I need to deal with. So that's been great. I've been practising for a long time and...
• 7:53
  meditation is also really good like I love that and it's one of the first things I drop when I'm stressed but it's what I know that I need to prioritize I really want to get into meditation I've done like a course in transcendental but it was one of those things like for me it just wouldn't stick and I couldn't commit to doing I think it's 20 minutes in the morning 20 minutes yeah evening and for someone who
• 8:13
  doesn't meditate to go into that it was really like I found it really challenging that's the hardest thing for people is that they get you can feel like you have to keep up this constant practice and that's so hard when you're living a busy life so for me it's just about accepting that you're going to dip in and out of it and just giving it the time that you can yeah and you know the more you come back to it the more you'll see the benefits in your life both like professionally personally creatively yeah
• 8:43
  But I think the biggest thing for me is I get more stress when I compound all the issues in my life and instead of just dealing with one thing at a time. So even here in the studio and for everyone who works, like we all have our own version of this. Like mine is bird by bird and Ellen's is mushroom by mushroom. And I don't know what Shelby's is, but.
• 9:05
  It's like deal with one thing at a time. Right. Because if I focus on all my problems at once, yeah. It's overwhelming. It's so overwhelming. And it cripples you. It cripples you and it stops you from being able to get anything done, whereas if you just look at everything in isolation, you typically can be like, oh, yeah, I know how to deal with this. Yeah. Get it done. Then move on. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other. Yeah, I like that. That's really nice. And I try to keep my to-do list down to –
• 9:31
  three significant things because if I write, I mean, I have a never-ending to-do list and if I look at, again, all of those things at once, I just get overwhelmed. But if I choose three things to do in a day, I can accomplish them. And three, I feel, is like, yeah, it's manageable. And even if they're the bigger task that you can be like, I'm just going to get this done versus like putting it off until tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Yeah. And then you can give yourself a gold star.
• 9:58
  Five gold stars. Yeah. Five gold stars. Where do you hang out to get smarter? One of my favorite quotes is, I'm a lot smarter when I don't think. And so I try and spend time not thinking, even though I've gotten told that I'm an overthinker and try to over-intellectualize everything. So I'm trying to just, yeah.
• 10:24
  feel more, and I think that makes me smarter in turn in just taking some space, spending time outside and just trying to ignite more of that creative side of me. It actually hates. Like dog dreaming. Yeah, totally. But I do read a bit when I can, more definitely over, like, the holiday periods, and I switch between business and philosophy books. Do you have any favourites? A philosophy I love.
• 10:53
  The Courage to be Disliked and The Courage to be Happy. That's a really recent two books that I've read. They're really great, very easy to read. Business-wise, my favourite book is The Hard Thing About Hard Things. Oh, I haven't read it yet. By Ben Horowitz. It's incredible. I read it a few times. And he just released his second book called What You Do Is Who You Are, all about culture. Yeah. And I'm reading that in one minute. Greta just mentioned that in her – we just filmed a video a moment ago with Greta and she also mentioned that book as well. Yeah, so they're kind of like my –
• 11:23
  Like I just say, yep, do them straight away. And then from more of the like creative or fiction side, I love For Esme With Love and Squalor by J.D. Salinger. It's just like that's it. It's actually a really sad book, a collection of nine short stories, but it takes you to another world and I think it's good to,
• 11:43
  to do that sometimes and not just be wrapped up in business and philosophy. I read this post by Marie Folio the other day on Instagram and she was saying like, we really need to take ourselves out of like, you know, social media and podcasts and all these things that we're constantly trying to like learn more and consume more and everything and just allow ourselves the space to daydream and just to, to, yeah, not think about work and not think about what we should be doing next and just, yeah, sit in nature and just be like,
• 12:10
  Well, when you give yourself that space, like that's when things can come in. And if you don't, there's no room for new ideas or creativity or inspiration. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. That was number four. Question number five is around failure. And so when you're faced with failure, failure, can't get my words out, how do you deal with it and what did you learn in either a past experience or if you have something like an approach that you typically try to follow when you're in a crisis kind of mode?
• 12:38
  I think with any startup, like there's always going to be crisis and it's just things are hard. That's what I love about the book, The Hard Thing About Hard Things. It's hard, like accept it and use all of these experiences as just like learning experiences. It's a chance to like grow and to get better and be better because I'm super young and I hope that I'm still doing business at 40, 50, 60 and I'm excited to meet.
• 13:08
  that business owner at that stage with all of the learnings that I've had. The journey. I think that, you know, there are some things in my life I could look at and be like that failed or that didn't work out. Without having gone through it, there would be no lesson to take on and then take into my next business venture or my next relationship. So it is about, I think, always doing a retrospective and being like what just happened then? What did I learn? How did it make me feel like?
• 13:39
  who was involved. The big thing for me is always knowing that there's like two sides to every story and most, um, endeavors, it's always around a relationship of some sorts, whether that's with a business partner, whether that's with customers, whether that's with friends or family. And it's like, what was that, what happened here and what was the interactions and what can I take from it? But I think business in particular is all about, um, you know, being proactive and then reactive. You can plan.
• 14:09
  you know, only so much before something comes in and changes everything. So it's really about how you respond to those left of field things, which are always going to happen. Like there's only so much we can control. But the one thing we definitely can is our response to it. So if something fails, like what is your response? What do you do from there? An event happened, but you just have to ask yourself where to from now. Yeah, and move forward. Yeah.
• 14:37
  Cool. And number six is more of a gimmicky question. It's if you had $1,000 left to spend in your business bank account, where would you spend it and where do you think the most important like allocation of your resources is? I think probably Meg's staff in terms of I like this sort of concept, you know, if you give...
• 15:01
  a good idea to a mediocre team, they'll stuff it up. But if you give a good idea to a great team, they'll turn it into something greater. And so like that's our kind of biggest asset at Fluff. So it's like taking it to them and being like, here's a thousand dollars, like what would you do with it? And how can we turn this into $2,000 in a way? I haven't heard anyone say that as an answer. It's really nice. I like people. It'll be lonely and boring without them. So yeah, absolutely.
• 15:29
  Well, thanks so much for the six questions. And I will link your Instagram and the brand below. You can sign up to Female Startup Club at femalestartupclub.com to receive my emails and check out the Instagram, Female Startup Club. Cool. Thanks. Bye.
• 15:49
  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.
• 16:14
  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.
• 16:36
  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.
• 16:53
  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.
• 17:18
  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.
• 17:40
  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.