Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / The 3 things that set this natural skincare brand apart from other top shelf products and why it’s important to get clear on yours, with Alder New York Co-Founder Nina Zilka

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The 3 things that set this natural skincare brand apart from other top shelf products and why it’s important to get clear on yours, with Alder New York Co-Founder Nina Zilka · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  This is Nina Zilka for Female Startup Club.
• 0:12
  Hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. I'm your host, Doona Rasheen, and joining me on the show today is Nina Zilka, co-founder of natural skincare brand Alda New York. Alda New York is a queer and woman-owned independent skincare brand that makes products designed to work for all skin types, no matter your age, gender, or ethnicity. Their vegan line is formulated with the best plant-powered extracts and clean, dermatologist-approved ingredients for healthy skin.
• 0:42
  In this episode, we're talking about how Nina and her co-founder David started their first brand in fashion back in 2008 and have since gone on to create a wildly successful skincare company started through self-made formulations in her kitchen. We cover how they've funded the business to date and what it really means to do a friends and family round, how they've grown by making their way into hundreds of super cool retail stores around the US, and the three things they do that set them apart from the rest on the top shelf.
• 1:11
  This is Nina for Female Startup Club. Nina, thank you so much for joining the Female Startup Club podcast today. I'm so excited to have you on the show. Likewise. I am honored to be here. Can you start by introducing yourself and what your business is?
• 1:28
  Absolutely. So I'm Nina Zilka. I am the CEO and co-founder at Alder New York. And Alder New York was created with my business partner, David, and it is a truly clean, vegan skincare line that we've combined the best in plant-powered actives with dermatologist-approved ingredients for really easy-to-use, clear, affordable, accessible skincare.
• 1:48
  Sounds divine. I know that you and David started working together a really long time ago. You started a different brand originally, almost 10 years ago. I think it must be now. I think at this point it's like more like 14 years ago, honestly. Oh my goodness. Wow, that's amazing. Can we go back to that time and kind of what was happening in your life that made you guys think, oh, we're actually going to keep working together and pivot into skincare? Yeah.
• 2:14
  Yeah, absolutely. Well, we very much started out as not at all a business. David and I met at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, which is where we are based still. And we met us as fashion design students, my freshman year, his sophomore year. And almost immediately we had this
• 2:31
  uh really crazy creative connection where we just got each other and felt motivated when we were working together and by junior year of college we and a third bit a third uh third friend at the time had created a clothing line and you know it was all very new york fashiony and this was you know early early like 2008 um kind of that time a little bit pre-internet like where we were like like the internet existed um
• 2:56
  But it was just a little bit before it was like a thing. And so it was very DIY. And we had a lot of little boutiques that had started carrying us. So when we graduated, we really were like, let's just keep doing this. We had gotten a grant, essentially a grant to have a studio space in the Brooklyn Navy Yard through Pratt.
• 3:15
  Um, so like our cost was very low and we truly had no idea what we were doing. If we had, we probably wouldn't have done it. Um, cause I don't know if I recommend fashion and like having a clothing line with no money is the way to get started in any industry, but.
• 3:29
  That's what we did. And then our third business partner ended up leaving to do his own thing. We closed that clothing line, kind of started with much more of a business sense to create the next clothing line we did. And then David and I did that for about four to five years. And that company was actually called Alder Boutique. So we did that. And then...
• 3:49
  Basically, what happened is that during all this time, I had become really passionate about clean skincare. Again, this was in 2010, a book called No More Dirty Looks had come out. And I had read it and it was all about the lack of FDA regulation in skincare and hair care and cosmetics. And I was shocked.
• 4:05
  And so at home for fun, again, as a creative person, I started making my own stuff and very much in my kitchen, like mixing powders together. Nothing that involved chemistry. It was all physical mixing. But people really liked it. I made a dry shampoo and my roommate wanted it and then her mom wanted it. And so in 2012, David was like, let's design a cute little bottle and put it online with our clothing for the holidays.
• 4:28
  Urban Outfitters ended up stumbling on it and asked if they could carry it. Then it took on a life of its own. We definitely did not be like, we weren't like, this is our business. We were very much like, we have a fashion line. This other thing that we made for fun is doing really well. Then by 2015, I really had been burnt out on fashion. I really could not on the side find a
• 4:53
  clean standards. I'd learned a lot about what it meant to have a clean product. But that wasn't just like crunching granola. At that time, it felt like there still wasn't these really high-end effective formulas that were also clean. And most of all, David and I, as people who had always designed together,
• 5:09
  have the exact same taste. And even when we had our clothing line, we're really kind of designing with sort of a gender fluidity. We could not find products that were not marketed as super hyper feminine or hyper masculine that met those needs. So we were like, I, at that point I was like, I think I want to close the clothing line and really do this right. Like really figure out how much money it takes and run a business and do this dream skincare line. And David was like, let's do it.
• 5:35
  So that is, we closed the clothing line in 2015, took about a year to really develop the concepts, the formulas, R&D, and launched at the end of 2016 with Alder New York. Wowee, so exciting. What a story. What a story. I'm eager to dig into, you mentioned, you know, you had to figure out how much it was going to cost to get started. You had to have a proper business plan. I'm sure you had so many lessons and learnings from launching your first two clothing lines that you were bringing forward into this new skincare line.
• 6:05
  What was the plan? What was the things that you had learned? And what was the kind of money that you needed to get started? Yeah. So part of it was, again, David and I had really learned how to be very scrappy because we really have had a clothing line where we, I mean, at the time David was teaching, we both were teaching part-time at Pratt. I was doing accounting for another company. I mean, we really were kind of just not surviving financially at all on our clothing line, but had...
• 6:31
  But really figured out how to make things work with very little. So we kind of figured out what is the minimum amount of money we could do to really create the formulas we need, get them into production, and really just start with a small amount of product and pay ourselves very little but a living wage. And we settled on the number $200,000.
• 6:49
  And, you know, I have talked to investors later, and they were like, well, you know, sounds like you would have needed a lot more. And it was like, yeah, we didn't, we don't come from a super financial background. We didn't have that sort of connection. So even if we needed more, I mean, 200,000 felt super unattainable to us.
• 7:05
  So we ended up doing 200,000. We did a very, very small friends and family round, which really was like our immediate family and then their network of people outside of that. And, you know, we had met some people being in the fashion industry through Pratt, through the Brooklyn Fashion and Designers Hall of War, which was the incubator we'd been a part of with our clothing line. So that was the network that we accessed to raise that capital.
• 7:26
  And we really planned out, okay, like how many, it really comes down to how many units do we think you can sell a month at this price? And what does that look like? And what is the cashflow? And then a lot of times you'll hear the term runway when it comes to funding. And it's sort of like, how long can you make that money last? And, you know, can you turn a profit before you run out of that money or will you need to seek further investment?
• 7:49
  So David and I were really not interested in seeking further investment. And we kind of were like, we'll make that $200,000 work. And we have. So that's the other part is like, can you make it work or will you need to get more money? And so how long was the runway for you guys when you got that $200,000? What was the time period that you gave yourself to start making money back?
• 8:12
  I mean, it was about eight months. Okay. Yeah. And I remember my dad actually, because my dad is wonderful and is in PR. And so he didn't really know the fundraising world, but he kept me like, well, what happens if you run out before then? And it was such a funny question to me because I had spent my entire young adult life just not having any money and always like...
• 8:33
  babysitting when I needed more cash or like picking up a teaching gig here or there. And I was kind of like, we'll just figure it out. It was like I had I didn't quite understand. It was like a sort of like I don't understand that question. Like we will figure out a way to make it work if and when we run out of money. And that is something that we've just like learned time and time again. I think David, my business partner, really believes in that, too. And I definitely struggled more with feeling some panic around cash flow. And, you know, definitely around like February of 20.
• 9:00
  18, which was sort of that eight month period, I was like, we might actually run out. And he was like, well, I guess we need to go out there and sell some products then. He was very just like, okay, then let's make it happen. Like we can't just sit here panicking. What are we going to do to sell that product?
• 9:12
  Um, I mean, it's scary, but that's what we did. Totally. With that $200,000, what was the split between, you know, formulations and getting the actual products, you know, into your warehouse or office or whatever? And what was the split of like, Hey, we put this behind marketing and go out and, you know, sell products. Yeah.
• 9:32
  That's such a good question. So it ended up being mostly inventory and R&D. And that is something I really advocate for. I think if there's like one thing I think is worth spending your money on, it's that inventory, because that is the thing you can sell, right? And so that was sort of comforting to me when we were really at that low bank number, you know, at those eight months of like, well, we're still sitting on products. So like, you know, worst case scenario, if it all goes under, we still have products that we can sell. Yeah.
• 10:01
  that will turn into money that will translate to more money than we put into it. So we really chose to put the majority. It was really like, what is the bare minimum we can pay ourselves? And it really was like the bare minimum. But I was used to that because I had been my life up until that point. And how much money can we put into creating and having the product on hand? And how long will that inventory last us? Marketing, we actually didn't even start paying for until a lot later in the game.
• 10:28
  So a lot of it, Dave and I had a very clear strategy with Alder that I think has proven to be successful, which was really focusing, you know, we had our online CTC space, which I think is an invaluable. You're going to make your most money direct to customer because that's where your margins are going to be the highest. And it's where you can really create a customer connection. But it's hard as a small brand who doesn't have a ton of money to put into marketing and advertising to.
• 10:53
  to get that new customer. So we were like, let's get into every cool boutique in every city, in every state. So like, I want to be in that one cool boutique that's in Arkansas. I want to be in the cool boutique that is in Alabama. And I, and so we did that. I mean, I really would like, I would be like, Alabama, what's the cool store there, you know, and then I would contact them and send them products. And we've ended up being in about 200 stores throughout the country. And I think of them as some of the coolest stores throughout the country, you know, and that included Goop, but it also, which is a little bit of a larger store.
• 11:22
  But that also included Club Duquette, which is based in the South. And the New York Times had written them as like the cool store to be in.
• 11:29
  in Alabama. So that is where I really focused my time and energy. So that was great because they had a built-in customer there, a loyal customer. If they liked the product, then they would sell the product. And generally when we send people products, they liked it. And it's a really good product. You try it, you're kind of hooked. You try our glycolic acid cleanser, you're like, my skin has never felt so soft. I have good taste. It looks amazing on my shelf. Sold. So I really felt like when we got it into people's hands, it would sell.
• 11:55
  So that was really our strategy. It was a lot of in-person and then doing a lot of pop-ups, like a lot of different like trade shows and a lot of different opportunities to interact directly with a customer. So like we're sold at the public hotel in New York, the minute that they placed that order, I was like, hey, we would love to do an event at the public hotel with you. We'd love to get a chance to meet your customers. And most of the time stores want to do that. It's good for them to have people coming in. They don't pay us anything. It's like free marketing for them.
• 12:22
  So it was really a win-win. So we didn't start paying for marketing. And even still, we pay very little for advertising for months. I mean, it is like 5% of our budget goes towards marketing. I'm not sure that that is the strategy for everyone. But as a small brand, that has really been what we have found to be worthwhile is those more in-person and direct experiences.
• 12:45
  Yeah. And something that we, we talk about a lot on the show is when you have, you know, word of mouth inherently built into your product and, you know, that is your free marketing going around different networks of friendship groups and different relationships. That's just key to, to a successful brand. So I totally, totally get that in what you're saying.
• 13:04
  What did you think you were doing that set yourself apart from other brands in the natural skin care space that made those retailers interested in specifically what you were doing with Elder? Yeah, I think three big things, and they were really important to us.
• 13:22
  The first thing is aesthetics. I think as designers, David and I, that's the easiest part for us is like, we know how to make something look good. And we really wanted it to be something that was beautiful and simple on a shelf. And definitely the time when we launched, I didn't see that. I think that that has happened a little bit more as that trend has built. But at the time it really was like, oh wow, this doesn't have writing all over it. It's not flashy, garish colors. And because I was very much reaching out to the stores that would get that, it was stores that I personally liked
• 13:52
  That felt inherent. They were like, I love how it looks. The second thing is the product had to work. And our formulas, I feel very confident saying are some of the best formulas out there. You know, it wasn't just that I wanted them to be clean. I wanted them to really work. So I go back to our cleanser, but it is just a cold favorite. It's like people try it, they get hooked. I really just have to send it to them. And then they're like, I don't even know how this, how this could be so good.
• 14:15
  And it is, it's like it's bicholic acid, it's sea botanicals, it's this really clean coconut formula soap. So those formulas really speak for themselves. You can send someone something, but if they don't like the product, they're not going to use it. And then the third thing, which has been, I think, the hardest thing for us to achieve, but the thing I'm most proud of is our price point.
• 14:36
  and keeping that accessible. And like I said, when we launched, it was definitely at a time when I feel like we were still very much in the Goop phase of things. And I love Goop. Like I said, they've been, they supported us. You know, we love them. But they generally had a higher price point. And it was this sort of idea that like nice,
• 14:55
  clean, safe products were only for wealthy white women. And I really had a problem with that. It just felt so inherently classist and wrong that only rich people get to have safe working products. So we really, from the beginning, were like, I want our price point to be
• 15:12
  accessible to the majority of people. I still think we should go lower. As a small business, we will always struggle with not being able to go as low as I'd like us to go. You know, it's just we have to buy things at a certain scale that doesn't allow us to go as low as I'd like. But I think that price point made it really a safe bet for people, for customers to take that risk because it just wasn't a lot of money to throw down to try a product. And once they tried it, they loved it. Totally. Totally.
• 15:41
  When you were doing the, you know, the retail wholesalers strategy and building out those lists and getting those 200 stores involved and then, you know, focusing on the pop ups, what's evolved with your marketing now? And what do you see works for you at the moment with acquiring new customers and kind of scaling to that next level? Yeah.
• 15:57
  Yeah. So we're in a really weird time. I don't know if you noticed. As I record from my bedroom. Right. So that is a challenge. I think, you know, this is a great lesson in business, but like plan, always make a plan and then just expect you'll throw it out the window. And that has just been from day one, the thing. So at the beginning of this year, we were like, well,
• 16:20
  things are going so well, this is going to be our trajectory for the year. And our plan was to do a million in-store events. We were like, we're going to get plane tickets. We're going to fly to this place. That was actually our strategy was like, we are going to go. So IRL, it's going to be crazy. You're going to get sick of meeting us. And then the pandemic happened and everything shifted to online.
• 16:38
  So our marketing strategy has really had to shift. So, you know, some of the things that we're doing right now is really trying to focus on partnering with businesses that we really like to do giveaways or different types of, you know, purchasing experiences where we're working together on things. So there's some discovery between, oh, you like this brand, here's this other brand.
• 16:57
  um and uh so that's been a big one we've really focused on growing our affiliate program which again is bringing in people who really get the brand who we feel align with our values to then share it with their friends and their family and their community and and then of course we're also looking into things like tiktok um and things like that and i don't have one queer answer i think this is a little bit the wild west uh for everybody um is just
• 17:23
  in this only digital world, how do you market? And how do people, how are you not fatiguing customers who have spent all day on the computer? So I don't have a clear answer. It's sort of like, yeah, we're just kind of throwing things at the wall right now and trying, trying different ways to engage with people in a digital space. So I don't have a clear answer. I think we're trying a lot of different things right now.
• 17:47
  Yeah, totally. I get that. And I think it's like one of those years where, of course, we'll look back and be like, well, we did our best. We tried all of the things and like, let's hope for 2021 to, you know, to smooth things out because my golly, it's been a weird year. That's for sure. It's been a weird year. It's been a weird year. Yeah.
• 18:05
  Um, on the back of marketing and because it's very relevant at the moment, we've got Black Friday that's just happened last week and, you know, Cyber Monday, which was today. What were you doing to participate in those kind of global, um, phenomenons if you, if you did participate? And do you have any learnings that you can share with us that made it a successful plan that you'd look to continue to do in the future?
• 18:26
  Yeah. Yeah. I think it was very, it was successful for us. And we do participate in Black Friday. I really respect brands that choose not to. And I completely understand their reasoning that it's a corporate thing. And I totally get it. For us, I find what I view Black Friday as is a chance to gain new customers who are maybe hesitant to try the brand again because of price point, because it's only online, which that's something we can talk about is how hard it is to sell skincare only online right now. It's
• 18:55
  a product that inherently lends itself to someone wanting to try it before they buy it. So, you know, for Black Friday, it's the only time of year we do our 25% off sale. We've done it the last three years. It's the only time we mark things down that much. And we do it from the beginning of Black Friday through Tuesday, which is the end of like Cyber Monday onto Tuesday.
• 19:17
  And what we find is that it's when we gain a lot of new customers who have maybe, you know, you can see a lot about your customer and maybe they've been looking at us for three to four months and this is the chance that they try it. So we, our PR makes sure that we see information about the giveaways. You know, we were in Allure, we were in Harper's Bazaar, we were in basically every publication, The Cut, Vogue, about this, not about the giveaway, about the sale.
• 19:42
  So we were in all these magazines talking about the sale or online talking about the sale so that people know about it and that they're able to try it. And so for us, that's been a really successful strategy because, like I said, the customer acquisition is the hard part, but I feel very confident in Alder New York's products. Once people try them, they tend to be hooked. We have a really great repeat rate. So getting all those new customers is worthwhile for us to take a little bit of a hit in margins
• 20:04
  So that is get this returning customer. And the other thing we're going to do now is, okay, we have all these new customers. So now we're working on a really great newsletter for this week to kind of welcome them in as welcome new customers. You know, here's some exciting things about Alder New York. And of course, we always do that with new customers, but we're really trying to make them excited in this sort of Black Friday bonanza.
• 20:25
  Yeah, totally. Make them feel loved and welcomed into the community. Especially now with everyone needing extra community, you know, looking to different things for just a bit of solace and a bit of break from the daily grind, I guess. When you said you were doing lots of PR and working with those big media brands, is that through a PR agency or were you finding that you were doing this kind of thing yourself? Yeah.
• 20:49
  So for the first year and a half, I did it myself and was kind of surprised. You know, I was pretty, it was all new for me. And I think I really came again from our scrappy background where I was like, I can do this. And so it was a lot of cold calls. But I remember I emailed Vogue and the editor of Vogue said, yeah, let's do a death side. And David and I showed up, like just the two of us. And looking back, I'm like...
• 21:11
  Maybe we should have looking a little dinky. Like maybe we should have had a PR agency. But it was just us just emailing and getting to meet the, you know, the top media editor at the time, which I kind of couldn't believe happened. So we did that for a while. And then and then and we were really hesitant about partnering with a PR agency. In general, I think you have to be very careful when you have your own business about who you work with and who you partner with, because for the most part, no one's ever going to work as hard as you are on your brand.
• 21:41
  And that's kind of just the nature of when you own something. So I think it took us a long time to find the right fit. But when we found our PR agency, we really felt aligned. And I felt like, oh, these are people I would trust to represent Alder when I'm not there. And so for the last year, yeah, it's a little bit over a year now they've been doing our PR. And it is so great to trust people to do things. I mean, when you can delegate, as a founder, it is.
• 22:07
  a life-changing experience. 100%. So just knowing that they're doing all of that feels great. Yes. And so like, you know, it was great to wake up on a Friday morning and have Eloise, our PR person emailing me, hey, here's all the people that wrote about your Black Friday sale. I'd be like, wow, all this stuff was getting done while I was doing the 30 other things on my end I needed to do. So yeah, that's been great. Really incredible. I'm curious to know what your email was like to the Vogue editor. What do you think got their attention? Yeah.
• 22:36
  I don't know. I always wonder about this. I asked one of the stores we're in because they, I think I mentioned they had been in the New York Times. And so that's how I found them. And they said, when we met, they were like, you know, we got a million emails, but yours really caught our eye. And I think they said like, one thing is that I was a real person.
• 22:53
  and it's like a real email. I think something I didn't do is just sort of send the same foreign email to everybody. When I emailed, I would really like research who I was talking to, you know? So I looked up who is the beauty editor, I think it was beauty director at Vogue. And like, what do they look like? What do they seem like they're interested in? What have their past experiences been? And then I really cater that email to sort of saying like, hi, I'm Nina Velka, I'm the CEO at Alder New York. Here's what we're about. And maybe it changes, you know, if it's a men's lifestyle company, maybe it's the focus on like,
• 23:21
  You know, we have some great, you know, grooming, you know, we're use the word grooming kind of cater to them. And if it's a cool woman with a with a customer base who's a little more, I don't know, digital savvy, be like, I'm having a hard time coming up with those perfect. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then the other thing I would do.
• 23:41
  that I really recommend people do is put decks together. So have a media kit. That's what they'll call it. But it's just, it's really just a PDF of the, that just tells people quickly about your brand. So it's going to have maybe a page with images of your product. It's going to have a little bit about the founders and it's just like a three to five pager. That's just, I got your brand and it's quick and,
• 24:02
  And if I'm an editor, I can look at it and be like, ah, I guess I guess that this is who you are. And again, maybe you're editing that deck slightly for your men's lifestyle and slightly for your women's publications and your mother's public, you know, it's all different. But that's, that's something we've done that I think is, is crucial to just really saving. You want to make it really easy for the person you're emailing to get you and not have to put any work into it, make all the work on your end so that for them, it's just,
• 24:27
  been looking at it. Yeah, absolutely. I totally get that. Great advice. Something you mentioned earlier that I wanted to circle back to was you said that you did a friends and family round and you hadn't raised since you're able to make that money work.
• 24:43
  In those situations where you don't plan to fundraise further, what is the expectation of the friends and family involved? Are they just happy that they supported you in the beginning or are they still like, yeah, we're still hoping for you to sell and for us to get it back? Or is it kind of like a loan situation where you're just going to pay them back?
• 25:02
  So that's a great question. So we did something called a convertible note. And it actually, it's very, very common in the startup space. And then people can Google it just to get an understanding of what it is. But it's literally both of those options. The first thing is, no, I don't think anyone's just like, here's a gift. No one we knew, which is like, here's my money. Enjoy. I think they're either. There's sort of two options.
• 25:22
  One is that, and the convertible note, it's literally convert. So it's like, it can be a couple of different things, depending on different stipulations that you and your lawyers work out in that contract, but it can become a loan where they're going to make interest money, you know, money back on their investment, or it can become a loan.
• 25:38
  that they eventually profit from the sale. And I think something that is gonna happen more and more is Alder may not end up needing to do a fund raise very soon. Although I would never say we're not doing another raise. That may be something down the line we decide we want to do, we just don't need it right now. But something that I think is highly likely is that we choose to sell the company in seven to eight years when we've grown into a point where I think, oh, someone
• 26:04
  who is much better equipped to do this should be handling it. You know, Alder's my baby and I want my baby to have the best possible mentorship it can. So right now as a scrappy startup, I think that I am well equipped to do this, probably the best person for the job. But I do think Alder will grow to a point where I think somebody with more experience in, you know, a larger mass.
• 26:24
  base should be helming the brand. Maybe, you know, these are all, these are all possibilities, in which case the investors will profit hugely from that sale. So no, they definitely have an incentive that is beyond just wanting you to succeed in investing in your company. And that is called a convertible note that I think is really valuable when you're trying to raise at that level.
• 26:48
  Yeah, totally. Absolutely. Great insights there into that process. I was like, hmm, what does happen in that situation? Yeah. What does the future look like for Alda? What happens, you know, next year? Are you bringing out new products, new partnerships? What does the future look like?
• 27:06
  All of the above. We are going to have some new products I'm extremely excited about. It's hard not to spill the beans, but really, really, really exciting. So keep your eye on us for January because we'll have the first launch of that group, I would call it.
• 27:22
  So we have that happening. So we're always, I think, again, as like design providers and creators, product creation is sort of like what gets me going. It's definitely my favorite part of this business. So we will always have new products coming out in a really thoughtful way. But we have like
• 27:38
  the whole two years next two years not out in that way um and then i'm dying to get back to physically interacting with people can't wait for that vaccine so i think that's really where we're we're looking forward to like again going back to those physical spaces and i think when we get that vaccine it's going to be a bit like the roaring 20s and people are going to go crazy and i want to be a part i want alder to be a part of that i can't wait
• 28:01
  to interact with customers again. So I think that's really, I think the beginning of the year will be all about our product launch and again, continuing to engage with customers in our digital space. And then the minute we can all get together, it's really going to be figuring out more physical spaces where we can have that community, whether that means that Alder has its own store or we're just showing up in a lot of other people's stores. I think it's going to be all about really getting to talk to our customers directly for the next year or two.
• 28:27
  Where would be the first like ideal pop-up for you? Where are you dreaming of relaunching at? Upstate New York right now, I think it's just the most exciting thing ever. My business partner, David, and his husband just bought a house up there. So we've been up there a lot. We have actually been doing a couple outdoor spaces, outdoor pop-ups in Hudson, New York. So I think everything up there is just so cool and happening. And I think that could be really exciting because it's such a great vacation spot for New York people who are just,
• 28:54
  burn out on the city right now. So something around there, I think. Love that for you. What advice do you have for women who have a big idea and want to start their own business?
• 29:07
  I think having a big support system is the number one thing. And I mean that both financially and I also mean that emotionally. So I think feel confident in your idea and have people that you trust that will be honest with you and that will just support you. You just need people who are going to love you. Like obviously if it's a bad idea, you want the people in your life to tell you that. But if they think it's a good idea, you're going to have
• 29:31
  So many people tell you it isn't because that's just, I mean, the amount of people that told me all there wasn't going to work and here's why. And I mean, they still tell me that. So you really need the people that love you to like be there for you and tell you and remind you why you did this in the first place. And then the other thing I think is like, make sure you have the money that you need
• 29:49
  do it. Like have money in the bank that is going to make you feel comfortable that you can do this without constantly panicking about money. And if that means raising money, which I hate doing, I think I know a lot of people who don't like doing it. And so there's nothing wrong with that. It could be a bank loan. It could, it could honestly be a credit card that you just are like, this is what I'm doing. And here's my plan with it. But I think knowing that you have some financial resources to do the thing you want to do.
• 30:17
  I think those are the big things. It's really just support, both emotional and financial to really allow you to really create the best vision for what you have. Yeah. To go hard pretty much to go hard. Yeah. Cause it is hard and you're going to go, you're going to have to go really hard. Yeah. Love that. We are up to the six quick questions. Part of the episode. Question number one is what's your why? My why is, is,
• 30:45
  community. I think my why is community. And I think I've really been able to create my dream job in a way that I never thought was possible. And that one, I get to be my own boss and I do really badly having a boss. So I love being my own boss. And I get to work with my best friend, which has been way more part of my business than, I mean, 15 years down the line. It's like, yeah, that's, that's a big part of my why is that I have this person who's my community that I like love.
• 31:12
  And then I get the community of creating really products I believe in that I think make people's life better. And then I get to interact with the people who like those products and feel like they get what Alder's about and like this genderless thing. And they just get us. And so I think every day I'm kind of like, I can't believe that I get to wake up and have this community that I've created. And that is so fulfilling for me. Yeah, totally. Question number two is what do you think has been the number one marketing moment that's made your business pop?
• 31:42
  Yeah, I thought about this a lot. And I actually don't think there is one. I think that's actually like a mythology that's been created that there's this one big moment. And it's actually been a series of little moments that at the time, maybe didn't even feel like that big of a deal. Or that I've now become a nerd to. So I would say like when GQ wrote about us for the first time, and we woke up and we had at the time, it felt like a lot of order.
• 32:06
  That was a huge marketing moment. But now, I mean, I always said when we got into Vogue, I would die. And it happened like three weeks ago. And I have to say, I did not change my life. I just had other stuff I had to do. I was so flattered, but it was like, oh yeah, the longer you do this, the more it's just a series of moments. And sometimes I think,
• 32:26
  I personally get way too much big picture and have a hard time appreciating those little moments. So I think it's actually a bunch of little moments that make up that big moment. Yeah, the compound effect, 100%. Yeah. Question number three is where do you hang out to get smarter? What are you reading? What are you listening to? Where are you hanging out on the internet? Yes.
• 32:47
  So I, that's a great question. I hang out on Goodreads. I am such a reader. And I'd say pre-pandemic, when I used to take the train, I used to read about a book a week. And now I'm maybe at a book every two weeks or if it's a long weekend. I read three books this weekend. So that was great. Oh, wow. And it's just.
• 33:03
  Yes. That's a great feeling. Yes. It's my form of calm. So Goodreads is where I go to get those recommendations. And then I also really love Molly Beth Young is a writer for New York Magazine. And she has a column called Read Like the Wind that comes out every month. And it is like her recommendations. And what I love about it is it's not just the newest book.
• 33:24
  It's a common, it's just every book she's really liked in the last month. And so it'll be like a weird book from the 1970s that's about something that you would never read. And her tastes just perfectly aligned with mine. So at this point, I really look forward to it so I can dive into whatever she's telling me I should read that. Love that. And that's going to be linked below in the show notes for everyone listening. Question number four is how do you win the day? And that's around your AM and PM rituals that keep you feeling productive and happy and successful.
• 33:55
  Yeah, I think I win the day by not worrying about winning the day. I think I'm such a type A person and I'm very hard on myself, as I'm sure that the majority of your listeners, if they're interested in being founders, are. And I have a really hard time giving myself advice.
• 34:11
  letting myself relax. And so if I haven't done yoga, I'll feel guilty for the day. If I haven't crossed everything off of my list, I'll feel guilty. And I think especially the pandemic, I've really had to let that go. Just because especially living in our own houses, it's like the mess that accumulates, like it's just insane and I can't get it all done. And so I think just giving myself that permission to be like,
• 34:36
  okay, maybe you didn't do everything on your list and now you get to go to sleep and wake up and not want to be mad at yourself. That's been the biggest win for me. Yeah. I think we all can be a little bit softer on ourselves, especially during this year, because sometimes you just can't win the day in all the ways you had planned. No, it's insane to think we could, right? It's just, it's too much. So yeah, just giving yourself a break.
• 35:02
  Totally. Question number five is if you only had a thousand dollars left in your business bank account, where would you spend it?
• 35:10
  Inventory. Going back to what I was saying earlier, I spent it on inventory because that is you're buying something that then has X more value than what you put into it. So I think when you have the product in hand, then you can do all the things. You can be super creative about how you market and you can do guerrilla marketing. That doesn't cost any money. But if you don't actually have a product to sell, you can't do that. So for me, it would be 100% inventory. So true. So true. Yeah.
• 35:35
  Question number six, last question is how do you deal with failure? And that can be around a personal experience that you've had or just your general mindset and approach.
• 35:44
  Yeah, I going back to community, I deal with failure both by having in my network, I talk to people who I respect, who I think have done amazing things and ask them about how they fail. And I read books and memoirs. I'm a memoir fanatic and there's nothing that makes me feel better than reading about someone who I deeply admire, like Jane Fonda, and then reading about what she considers to be her failures and how she got through them.
• 36:09
  And I mean, what you learn time and time again is that those failures then lead to something else. I mean, there's really no such thing as failure because even things that are unequivocally failed lead to the next chapter of someone's life, which is when you're in a moment of feeling like you failed, it's so hard to see that because it sucks. We don't know and like feeling like they didn't do the thing that they wanted to achieve.
• 36:32
  Um, so I am a huge believer in, in, uh, talking to people you respect and hearing how they failed because it will make you feel better. Yes, absolutely. I agree with that.
• 36:42
  Nina, thank you so much for joining me on the show today. I really love chatting with you and learning all about Elder and all the cool things to come. Thank you so much. It was an honor. Thank you again. This was such a joy. I love your podcast. I listen to it myself. I find it, again, talking about failure and hearing how other people have achieved their dreams and moved on from the thing that didn't work is deeply inspiring. So thank you for creating this. Thanks so much. Thanks so much for saying that. Yeah.
• 37:13
  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.
• 37:37
  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.
• 38:00
  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.
• 38:16
  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.
• 38:41
  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.
• 39:03
  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.