Latest / Skin Anarchy / Paula Floyd, Founder and CEO of Headkount

Transcript

Paula Floyd, Founder and CEO of Headkount · Skin Anarchy

• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: Hi guys, welcome back to Skincare Anarchy.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: This is your host, Ecta, and today I have an awesome guest, and I'm super excited.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: So without further ado, I want to introduce you guys to Paula Floyd, who is the founder of Headcount.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: So welcome to the show, Paula.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for making the time.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm super excited to uh have this combo with you today.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to get started by um learning about your career and um your journey through the industry and just um all the good stuff that's led to the to this point.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you got it.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um gosh, it's a really long time ago.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um I actually, you know, started my career in beauty um just a bit by chance.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I was, I've always been like a beauty junkie, even at, you know, seven years old, eight years old, I remember always wanting to like pluck my brows or do my mom's makeup or things like that.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: So it naturally just kind of came into play that I was um at a party and somebody showed me this little pot of um product.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: It was a concealer and it had NAC on it.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, hey, have you ever heard of this?
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: This is this really cool new brand.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, No, I haven't.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so they showed me this concealer, and we were kind of all in the bathroom, like digging in it and uh trying on this new concealer, and it was actually Mac.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: So it's kind of I know.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: So when I tell people who are much younger than me, they're like, oh my gosh, like Mac was a startup.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'm like, yeah, wow.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's when I started with them.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's crazy.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's so cool.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: So like from from there, then you just you you work with much more, many more brands, right?
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I was with Matt for about 17 years, and then I worked for some much um more established brands, you know, after 17 years of going with them, the bigger players are also players, I should say, and really helped them.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Always led a sales and education field team and just absolutely love the industry.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I love it then and I love it today.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, I want to learn so much from you because from the sales side, I don't get to talk to many people who can really explain that aspect of beauty.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: So um, before we dive into that, I want to talk about a headcount a little bit and just what your vision was with the company.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: So, really, I call it, you know, it's the all or nothing.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, sales for big companies have this advantage where they can have these big field teams, field teams meaning the people who actually are boots on the ground, go into stores, talk to your consumer, educate the retailer employers.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: So when they walk out, your brand doesn't just sit there on the shelf, right?
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And a hundred percent of the top 20 prestige beauty brands, they're all big guys, um, have field sales and education teams.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, after being in the industry for quite some time, a lot of people I knew um who have left their corporate world and started their own beauty brands.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: And one thing I noticed with them is because they're smaller, they have these smaller budgets, and they get these deals.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: So they'll get a deal with the big players, a Sephora or an Ulta, and are investing in DTC.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: And rather than you know, really not having any field support, and that's why I call it the all or nothing.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: So there's this, there was this big gap, right?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: You either have a field team or you don't.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And with headcount, I thought, gosh, why not offer a service, something I'm very experienced and know a lot of people who I could pull in to help build this company to support really startup women founders.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, wow.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: From the competitive edge, like the big guys have.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was really the beginning of headcount.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: That is truly amazing work because there are so many, like, you know, just since I started this podcast, there have been so many brands that I've discovered.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, the quality of your products are like far superior to some of the giants, you know, in the industry.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I all I, you know, talking to the founders, it's like it's what you said, you know, the budget just isn't there for people to invest in sales teams and invest in, you know, professionals that can take them to the next level.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: So um I love I love what you said, and I love you know how you described it.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I want to know um if you can tell us a little bit about the whole, you know, the dynamic of sales and beauty, you know, and just so our listeners can understand like how this works, like what is what does a brand do when they reach out to like a retailer?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what what what is that, like the whole relationship there?
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, typically the retailer, you know, when when you're going into stores, so they'll start out going online, um, versus you starting with your own online and then and getting a deal, right?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's the big strike.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like you want to get that deal with the big retailer.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Once you get that and you prove yourself online, um, and those can be all kinds of different KPIs and measurements of whatever the retail lays out for you.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Then if you pass, so to speak, or you get the opportunity to go into retail, um, now you need to prove your worth really in store.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, you again, when I talked about the big guys, I mean, gosh, I've learned everything from them.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And um what's amazing is you can get this institutional knowledge very quickly when you go into store and realize I need to share my story.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, consumers want to connect with the founder, they want to connect with your brand and your story, you know, versus maybe when I started in beauty, it was about, you know, the product and the the value proposition, and all those are still worthy, but they really nowadays want to connect with you know who you are.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and so my you know, going into retail for these smaller brands is having somebody share your voice and vision in store and connecting with those retail employees.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, I want to actually dive deeper because what does that entail?
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I know like for me when I started this podcast, that was actually very much in line with what I was thinking.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: I was, you know, I was thinking there's so many brands out there, and like how many people really know why the founder started this line?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and so for me, it was um very similar in terms of my driving, you know, my my vision for this podcast.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: But I want to know from in the in the store how a brand can tell their story, you know, once they're on the shelves.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what are what are some ways that brands can really kind of connect with consumers at that point?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: So, really is is A to have, and this sounds so ridiculous, probably, but really it's like having that body, having that person in there.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, what we say is, you know, at head count, you want the speed to market, right?
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: You want to get into retail, um, you want to get into the right doors.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's it's not even just what's happening in stores, making your sure you're have people in the right stores.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Where's the traffic?
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Where are the hotter markets?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then once you get into store, what's that consumer journey look like?
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: And what it looks like is a beauty educator uh that's a headcount employee who goes into store on behalf of the brand, connects with the retail team.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's the most important is cementing that relationship with the retail team, and just like sharing the story.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like how did the founder create this brand?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Why did she or he create the brand?
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what are the key features and benefits of the brand?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and really sharing that first with the retail employees and giving them confidence.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because at the end of the day, I think that's beauty.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, beauty is giving people confidence, right?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Whether it's by fragrance or skincare or hair care, whatever it is, and really giving the retail staff that confidence about the brand and the founder and and what that means.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you know, you make such an excellent point because I know there have been so many times where I've like walked into a Sephora, you know, years ago, and I would ask, like, I'm one of those, I'm I'm that shopper that's like, you know, if I see like a sales rep or like a salesperson on the floor, I'm gonna pull them aside and be like, hey, do you have any recommendations, you know, of some of the best moisturizers right now, or you know, or something like that.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I've always had this like it, I've always wanted that connection with that person, you know what I mean, just so they could tell me more.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: And oftentimes it's like, oh, you have to try this brand because you know, they're like something, something, something.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I love that.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: I love that you just explained to me like on all the different levels why I should support this brand.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I completely think that, yeah, this is very, very important.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Now, you know, one thing I do wonder is is there some sort of like downfall of smaller brands, you know, going into like bigger retailers like SACS or Nordstrom's or you know, anything like that?
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: Is there some sort of like, you know, I I don't know, like how beneficial is that for the brand versus not?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow, I I think it's really beneficial, right?
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because you're that's your audience.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: So it's depending on the size of the retailer, um, how many doors, it just means you're getting you're gaining, you could have the opportunity to gain more market share, right?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: The number one reason why clients come to us or brands come to us is they want to be able to scale, they want more distribution, right?
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: They want to open up more doors because it really gets them at the end of the day that's driving revenue and it's driving the sales for the brand.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's interesting.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Now, how has that been with COVID?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because I know a lot of stores were closed.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, like I'm I'm just no, oh my God.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we launched for we launched, we got our first client, which is an amazing client.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we got our first client in December of 2019.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: In February, in January, they were already seeing results and they were like, hey, let's double down for February.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: So they started adding more more hours for February.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: I get my second client in February, and then I get my third client in the beginning of March.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: March 15th, boom, everything's you know, you like same story everywhere.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Everything's down.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I literally called up each one of my clients because we're so excited, but I said, look, I don't know what this is gonna look like.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: We are gonna pause.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want your money back?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we're not gonna go into, you know, I know a lot of other people were like, how could we like do this online?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: And and at that time I thought, you know, this is kind of do or die for me right now.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: I need to save all of my money.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm self-funded and all of my resources.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: So we're just gonna pause and we're gonna watch to see when and how we come back and how we survive this.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: And we did.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: And but it it was it was tricky.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: So we just planned like, how could we be better?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: How could we service better?
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: How could we stay in touch with our employees?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, and really wanted to make sure that we held on to as many employees as we could.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: But it it was, I honestly wouldn't.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: This is this is um, I really thought that I had a bulletproof kind of uh business model, yeah, but boy, will I never say never again.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: Never say never again because it was a disaster.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, okay, this definitely is not bulletproof.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you know, COVID came in and just said, you know, screw it, no matter how solid your plant doesn't mean it's not gonna work.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: No, I want to ask you, um, I know that e-commerce is a huge thing right now in beauty, and I know that a lot of brands are opting for these, like, you know, online shopping experiences.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: I know that even Instagram has this feature now where it's like, oh, shop your favorite brand, or you know, et cetera, et cetera.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: How does that play into what you're doing in your model?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, it is there like an overlap or is it one or the other for with brands?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Gosh, you know, and that's why we exist.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I'll explain a little bit more.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, because DTC and e-commerce, you want your resources to go there, right?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's initially where you should be pouring your resources in as a beauty brand, in my opinion.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people look puzzled when I say that because I'm such a um boots on the ground, powered by retail with people, kind of a person.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: But really, at the end of the day, you have one bucket of money and how do you divvy that up, which is why headcount came into another reason why it came into play.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Brands no longer, right, can have these massive field teams weighing down their PL.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's really expensive to have people on your hands.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: So with headcount, you're flexible.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: So when we want to say the same message as somebody's saying online or a brand is saying with e-commerce, we want to bring their story online and bring it live in store.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: So we really encourage brands to pour their resources, continue that.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you get you have to play that game.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a really important for a business to thrive and just a starting point for them.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then once you get that down, then you go into a headcount type of a situation or you start building your own field team.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's very interesting.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know if you know, sometimes, like for example, I just interviewed um, you know, Hint from the brand Wind, and it's like I'm obsessed with our products.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like when I try to explain to people like how great it is, I'm just like so tempted to be like, you just need to go to a store and try this.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it's like that experience is exactly what I mean, you know, what you explained is something that I um can completely understand because it's like sometimes products, you really do have to, you know, see them in a store, try them, like you know, learn about them.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's a whole different experience of shopping and and consumerism that I mean we can't, we just can't throw away, you know.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: So it makes sense what you're saying.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and that's the thing.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, people thought, you know, oh my gosh, doomsday, Paula, you know, no, all the naysayers, right?
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh my gosh, you have like people business.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, no, we're gonna be okay because at the end of the day, people want to touch, feel, smell, um, test products.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: So eventually we knew it would come back.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and actually, right now in retail, it is just wild at the comeback.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um it really is like consumers are in store, consumers are shopping, they are so anxious and they're buying power.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's pre-COVID, I would say people came and like shopped around and not necessarily could you convert it to a sale?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now the conversion rates, like people walking in are wanting to spend.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so the conversion rates are much higher, the the consumer that's walking in the store.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's definitely for me anyway, I didn't I didn't see that coming.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: And our the our clients that we do have are really seeing a nice uh triple, you know, triple-digit increases at this point.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's really, really impressive.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, I can understand that, you know, people have been so anxious to get out of their homes and also with all of that social media that we've been consuming during COVID, like I, you know, I I feel like everyone's Sephora list is like, you know, 50 50,000 items at this point.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: So you know, yeah.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I actually want to ask you though, because I want I want some advice from you for for brands, because I know a lot of smaller brand founders are um attracted to our show.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I I want you to give some advice about somebody who might have a small line that's really kind of you know growing and what some next steps are for them that they could take on the sales end, you know, to really expand their line, expand their brand, you know, if you could offer some some general advice.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: I will.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: I I think the biggest thing is, you know, take that risk, you know, test, test, test.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what I mean by, you know, dabble in retail, right?
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, invest in it.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to invest in it hugely, but like just test it out.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: If you put somebody in retail, um, are you seeing a return?
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: You should immediately, you know, test online and and really get out there, and relationships are everything.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I know when I started, you know, and I still feel like I'm part of those, you know, new founders and and new brands.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: And really use all of my former colleagues, my friends are all in the industry, and I feel so fortunate, but really reach out to industry leaders.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Who do you admire?
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, what brands do you admire and start following them?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: And you can see kind of the different levers.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: But my number one advice is just take that risk.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: Do your best.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: No, I mean, that's great advice.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I think that that's one of the hardest things for a new entrepreneur.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think, you know, especially like you said, you know, you only have one pot of money, and it's like, where are you gonna invest it?
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and and that's a very hard decision.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: I think, you know, even business school doesn't prepare you for that, you know.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: So it doesn't.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's it's a big problem.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I'm actually curious because I know that I've heard in the past that, for example, big retailers take a huge cut of the sales, you know, they take a huge amount out.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: So, how does that work?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, is that is that true, or you know, what's that really like in terms of when a brand gets into a big retailer?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you're always, you know, there'll be a margin, whatever margin you've negotiated with the retailer.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you think about this on the retailer side, they're gonna power you up, right?
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: So they're gonna expose you to all their consumer, all their clients or all their guests or customers, which whatever they're calling them.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: So they're gonna give you an online presence.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: And think about it.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: If they have three, 10, 20 million, you know, 100 million, depending on how many clients they have in their database, they're actually giving that to you.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's like a gift on a platter, right?
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: So for sure they're gonna be negotiating a margin with you.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: So for sure they're gonna they're reselling your product basically.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um and as a as a brand and as a founder of the brand, really looking to what is a retailer gonna do for you, but what are you gonna do for that retailer, right?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: They're looking for something too.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: What customers are you gonna bring?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what kind of client are you gonna bring to them?
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, is always something that should be top of mind.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Are you are you also supporting the retailer by investing in their ads?
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: Are you investing in their story events or their animation?
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um that to me is is everything because you want to keep that very um solid relationship with the retailer.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: Right, that makes sense.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, I just wonder like how like brands pick their retailers because I know I've interviewed a lot of people who went with Target, you know, or somebody that went with Sephora.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm I've always wondered, I know that you know, the point of accessibility comes up a lot.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, a lot of brands are saying, well, we wanted optimal accessibility for our customers.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, they might have chosen Target versus a more like you know, uppity store.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I I just want to know, like from your experience, like the how important is it when you pick a retailer, like who you're picking, and what are some of the things that you know um people need to be or entrepreneurs need to be mindful of when they connect on that level?
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: Gosh, thank you for asking that question.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I seriously mean it because it's a pot of gold.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: It is your distribution strategy to me equals gold.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I really learned that when I started with Mac back in the day.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: Where you go matters.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you want to be like I'll hear sometimes people say, and you know, and this person, I'm gonna go in this retailer and this retailer and this retailer.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: And while that's all great, right?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: That shows a strong market appetite, hold your brand close and really make the decision that's right for you and right for your brand and grow into it so you have this nice sustainable growth.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and to your point, a lot of people want the accessibility.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: Look, when I got into the beauty industry, I mean, the thought of even having like a target ish or CBS ish type model wasn't even in the game for prestige, right?
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't even people were like, ooh, like I wouldn't even do that.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: Today, like they're really in the game.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: So this much bigger pool of retailers to choose from.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: But when you do make that choice, make sure it suits what your values and your goals are as a brand.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love that.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and honestly, I want you to give some tips or rather the procedure for going through headcount, because there might be a lot of people out there that, you know, that you could really help like some of our listeners, because I know that as an entrepreneur, it's very difficult to get your feet on the ground and figure out, you know what I mean?
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like where what should I do next?
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: Where's my brand going to grow the most?
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: So if someone were to, you know, apply to have you help them and have your headcount, you know, come into the picture, how does that work?
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: Do you guys have a website or how do how do brands get into contact with you to work with you?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: We do.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh wwheadcount.com and it's headcount with a K.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um we in you contact us and just reach out and literally tell us what you're looking for.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: I do it every single day.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm talking to a new brand, and even the smallest of brands, and I have to tell you, it's one of the favorite things that I love to do.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: I know, and I'll I'm a street shooter.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: So if I do not feel like you're ready for to invest in headcount, literally, like store, I'll kind of help these newer brands, like where to, you know, when they should be looking to go into us, right?
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: When they should be looking at hiring a field team.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I like to keep I'm very accessible.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, shoot us an email, it'll go directly to our head of sales, and then she shoots it over to me, and we set up a call and we have an exploratory call.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: There's I love that.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's no fee, and I'll talk to you for about an hour and I'll share with you, you know, give you the best advice I have and uh share with you my experience and the brand then just takes it from there.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: But I love doing that because I get to meet all kinds of new um entrepreneurs.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, one thing I I I'm really confused because you know, you have to I I have to remind myself, like I truly am an outsider to this industry, you know, I I come from science, so I know nothing about, you know.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I've been piecing together um, you know, the puzzle pieces, and I'm curious, like what the difference, like, you know, with PR teams, for example, right?
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, dude, I always thought they handled getting a brand into a store.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean, obviously, like I don't think that fits, right?
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, correct me if I'm wrong.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: How does that what do you think about that?
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um well, uh, you know, so there's there's not just one uh area that's gonna get a brand into a store.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: I do, you are a hundred percent correct.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: The first thing I would do as a brand is get a PR team, yeah, right?
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: Spend your money on PR, spend there's some, you know, marketing, they'll help you with some ideas with marketing.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I that's number one because the more press you're gonna get, the more you're gonna start coming up to the top, right?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: In the searches.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I definitely think that's the way to go.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: For us, we don't necessarily we help the brand once they're in store.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I see.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: I see.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Once you're in store, you'll come to headcount.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now that doesn't mean I don't advise small brands because I will anytime.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but once you're in store is when you'll talk to headcount.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: But prior to that, is get yourself a publicist or spend some money on a PR agency.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know, PR because PR is such a for me, it's such a gray area in the sense that I know they do a lot.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like they have so many different things that they, so many hats that they wear, but I always wondered that.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: So that's interesting.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: I I I you know, I find that to be very interesting.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think, you know, it's in it it's important to invest in professionals.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if you want something done right, you have to take the time to, you know, analyze like how bad how big do I want my brand to get and who do I want to reach to, you know, have a reach to.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where professionals come in, you know, they have to help.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: So um, any anyone listening out there, you know, if you're a small brand and you're really confused about what the next step is, like I really urge you to to spend that money on on people who know what they're doing, you know, because it it can be very, very daunting and scary.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: It is, and it's a big and and you can only afford so much, right?
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: I and I'll share with you what what we did if this helps any of your listeners.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'll never forget it.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: I we were kind of sitting there, we did our pricing, we built our website, we were all excited, ready to pitch to to some future clients, and something came up for this.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it was actually a company that does a lot of press.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: And they were running an event.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: This is obviously pre-COVID, and it was down in um Palm Springs, and it was six thousand dollars.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: And this sounds crazy, right?
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm self-funded.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like six thousand dollars coming out of my checking account, basically.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I only had so much money to build headcount.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I called my right hand, she's somebody who joined me from a big company.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: I was super lucky to get have that happen.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, What do you think?
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: Should we spend six thousand dollars on this?
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, here's all the people who are gonna be attending it.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of brands we were interested in, and she oh my gosh, let's do it.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we have to do this.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we did, and we actually ended up getting three clients out of that one spend.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: So it was talk about the return on your investment, and they are clients I still have today.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: So uh so it was really cool.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I highly recommend get out front, attend the events.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you can't, you know, we sponsored this event in a small way.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we look back now and we cringe when we look at like even what our image looked like.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: We're like, oh my gosh.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: We're like, oh my gosh, look at our logo.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: It was horrible.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um look at the bags we gave them.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, I can't believe we actually thought that was okay.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: But but we didn't know, you know, we were just starting out.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: So get in front of as many people your audience is matters.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and who, not just a bunch of people, but a targeted audience.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's another thing that I am really curious about is how to create a targeted audience.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: Because when I interview founders, I love, you know, every brand I invite on, I'm I'm really I love the brand, I love the people behind it.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: But I always ask the question of like, well, what's your demographic?
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what who are you really aiming for?
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of times it's you know, the answers are I get it from their end where they're like, well, everyone, because our product can be used by anybody.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, from a branding standpoint, that just doesn't make sense because not everybody's gonna relate to your product, right?
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: It goes back to your point of the story.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, how do you have any tips about that?
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do you choose your demographic and you know, really stick to that and target to them?
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I do.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: And and I I did a lot of reading before and um before I started headcount.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that really stuck out to me is who is your audience?
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: And you think about, you know, I thought really thought who's headcount?
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, sure, I anyone can hire headcount, right?
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: But who really what are my values?
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: So my values are I wanted to help startup founders, I wanted to give them exposure to uh in store.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I wanted to allow them the competition against the big brands.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so why?
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'd worked for both.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: I was startup and and also then worked for big brands.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so, my target in the beginning, that's how I chose.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought, well, I'm gonna surround myself and put myself in front of an audience where there's smaller brands because I myself wanted to also grow with the brand.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't want to just expand really large right away, and I wanted to learn.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I had a great meeting with one of the founder of Credo, and she was one of my first meetings, and she said, You know what, Paula, start, you know, we just little breakfast meeting.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: And she said, start out with just one.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and then I ended up in the clean beauty space, and I had no intention of being in the clean beauty space, but it just worked that way because then my values changed in the sense of I wanted to put a stance on, I want I only work with cruelty-free brands, yeah.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: Knocked out of a lot of the other legacy brands, right?
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: So stay true to your values and and get in front of the audience to what you originally created your brand and your products for, and then you can expand out into widening you know your reach into you know, get to ever like eventually it'd be amazing if headcount could service everybody.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: But right now we're really gearing it towards these smaller brands to get them up and running, and we're expanding with them, right?
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then you get to grow with the brand, and then they're expanding.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: Then so headcount's expanding.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's the recommendation for these smaller brands because you can get lost in thinking, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be something to everybody.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: I I think that's really tough to do.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and especially for women, I think we're such multitaskers, and it's like, you know, getting out of that that own like, you know, mentality of like, well, I can do something for everybody, like we can't as much as we want to.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's okay to say no.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's okay to or or to even, it's not even saying a no, it's just it's okay to just pause on that, put that on the side.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: Again, back to COVID.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody people were like, Hey, will you do these by, you know, go online and can your people go on Instagram and create all these videos?
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I I just said, you know, we're not skilled in that.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that is that we're not there yet.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so rather than than us go out and do it, we paused and and waited until we could get back into store and we built up other things to better suit our clients.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and well, you know, honestly, Paula, I think what you're doing is is really important and obviously just amazing because you know, giving entrepreneurs a chance to like really, you know, kind of hone in on your experience and your advice and and the your guidance, like that's that's worth a lot more than the money that you're gonna invest.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's what I meant earlier with like professionals is like you want to invest in in something that you know is gonna, you know, give you returns.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, for me, if I had like a skincare line out and and it was in a store, I'd come to you and be like, Well, she has so much experience, you know what I mean?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like, why would I be beating my head against a wall rather than just you know getting your advice and doing what you think is best?
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, yeah.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I I think you know, everyone listening out there, I know there's a lot of you that, you know, you want to start your own line or you have a beauty brand already and you, you know, you're trying to expand it.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: I really, really urge you to check out Headcount.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: I urge you to um, you know, see what you know Paula's team is doing and and leave us some feedback, some questions.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: If you have any questions for Paula's team, leave them in the comment section and we'll pass them along.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: But thank you so much, Paula.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_01: This has been a wonderful episode.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much, and thank you, everyone who is listening.
• 33:43
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• 33:45
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• 33:50
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• 34:07
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• 34:50
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