Latest / Skin Anarchy / CEO and Founder Of Zaila Skin spills the tea

Transcript

CEO and Founder Of Zaila Skin spills the tea · Skin Anarchy

• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: We have all four available now.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't prevent your career.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Have to be working this episode today to learn more.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_06: Welcome back to Skincare Anarchy.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_06: Today we have another very, very special host.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_06: She is launching a new skincare line.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_06: It's up and coming.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_06: Is that right, Momika?
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_06: Is that how you pronounce it?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, it's pronounced Zayla.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_06: Okay, Zayla Skin.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_06: And um they're in the beginning of their journey, but everything about their page is amazing.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_06: Um, so hopefully we can get some insight into what really, you know, kind of inspired you and what led you down this road.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_06: So um we're just I just want you to take over and tell us a little bit about yourself, Mumita.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and thank you so much for having me, I then Farheen.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so flattered that you guys reached out and super excited to be here.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_03: So sure, I can go into, you know, why I started Zela, um, what inspired me to start this brand.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: So I've actually always been obsessed with the beauty world forever and ever.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_03: Like I used to get in trouble in sixth grade for sneaking eyeliner into school.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, I always kind of thought I would actually end up in the makeup world.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but you know, skincare kind of just blew up in the last two years, and I began really becoming obsessed with it.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_03: It became like my self-care ritual.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_03: So my full-time job is as a consultant um in technology consulting.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_03: So I was traveling Monday through Thursday before COVID every single week.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um that really, yeah, it takes such a toll on you.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: I loved it, but you have very little alone time, you're always with your team, and so my skincare at night just became like my 10-15 minutes to just relax.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_03: And so that's how I got really, really into skincare.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and the story behind how I had the idea for Zela.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_03: So one time I was, you know, Moltani Mitti.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_03: You guys are probably familiar.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: So I had tried to take a Multani Mitty like pack with me, and it's just it was such a mess.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_03: It made a mess all over my suitcase.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um no.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I like I really love Moltani Mitty and so many other Indian masks, but you know, they tend to be kind of messy.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_03: You have to, yeah, like you have to make a concoction.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's like a full-on recipe, right?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm sure you've both done so many of those at home.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: And I was just like, why where are the shelf stable Indian um skincare brands that are high quality, that are really focused on the ingredients and that are also creative.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_03: Like I really love the creative skincare, the skincare that has a sensorial aspect to it.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I just could not find that anywhere.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_03: And so I just became like obsessed with the idea um at that point.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't even think I was gonna actually go start a brand.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: I just was googling like all the time, Googling everything about the ingredients.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_06: Well, you know, it's they they say if you want something done, you do it yourself, kind of thing.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_06: You know, if you want it done right, you do it yourself.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah, I I just became so obsessed with it.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: And I was probably doing research for like four months, just researching what it takes to start a brand, researching how to even research ingredients.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um and then I decided, okay, I'm gonna take the plunge and I incorporate it in February um of this year.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_03: So wow, that's so exciting.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's such a huge deal.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and it's it's so exciting to see, like, you know, I I say younger people, um, but you know, Ecta and I are both in our 30s, but it's so exciting to see you, you know, in your early to mid-20s getting into this because like starting a brand and starting a business is no joke.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_04: Like people will doubt you, and literally you can do everything by the book and do everything right and still like absolutely be a disaster.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_04: Um so yes, and to just, you know, work through those initial hurdles.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm first of all, huge, huge congratulations to you.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, this is just so exciting um to see first to see it like come to fruition, but also that um you're doing this step like so early on in your life and taking that risk for yourself.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_04: I think that's really to be commended.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm just so excited for your products, first of all.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_04: Um the authentic aspect to it, right?
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_04: And I really want to look for that in skincare as well.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_04: Um, because like yes, there are others, you know, brands um, I think that have taken pro our ingredients, I should say, that are uh part of our cultures and have adapted it, but there's the the authenticity is lost and they don't understand, like you said, like the self-care aspect of it and like what that means for us, right?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_04: Like I remember Dani Mithi too, and there is an aspect of kind of putting it together yourself and that you know cultural aspect of hey, you know, my family members use this to some extent, or this is what they put in it.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, this is like the way I make my pack versus you know, your friend who might make it a little bit differently.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_04: I think that's all like so cool.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_04: And that's you want a product to evoke that, not necessarily feel like um, you know, that you're just kind of I don't know.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_06: I you want it to be like, you know, you you want something to work, but it's like I think with with a lot of um Indian like related ingredients, um, you know, you guys correct me if I'm wrong, there's really no way for us to measure what we're using.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_06: You know what I mean?
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_06: We're just kind of going by you know, just okay, this worked for our grandmothers, this worked for our mothers, let's try it.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_06: So for me, it's so exciting to see that you're coming out with this line that is like Fraheen said, you know, grounded in this in our culture and it's it's being done the right way and it's being, you know, it's being developed and packaged and distributed in a you know regulated way.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_06: So that's so and you know, it's it's funny you guys mentioned Multani Mifti because my mom told me about this like literally three months ago.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_06: I had no idea about it.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, really?
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you didn't grow up using it.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, there are so many Indian, like natural, you know, skincare solutions.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_03: Multani Mithti is one of so many, and exactly what you guys are saying, like of course, our grandparents did so many things, and I grew up watching my my grandfather use rose water before it was even a thing, right?
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: But wow, yeah, yeah.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and and exactly like for me, it was really important to have the brand grounded in science and grounded in, you know, just because these ingredients are natural and Ayurvedic and has been used forever and ever doesn't mean it's always like the best choice.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_03: I really wanted to combine um the Ayurvedic ingredients with the best Western actives or the best actives from modern skincare.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_03: So our products are gonna have vitamin C in them, they're gonna have niacinamide in them, glycolic acid, things that have actual clinical trials to back them up.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_03: And so that was really, really important to me.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_06: I love that you said that.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_06: I love that she Vrain mentioned clinical trials.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_06: Like how many times Vrain and I have ranted so many times about how we just do not understand why there's not enough research, you know what I mean?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_06: Like in skincare.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_06: And so for you to say that is so, so important.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_06: And you know, um, I do have a question though.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_06: Did you run into like in this whole formulation process, like with um, you know, obviously you're using like Ayurveda ingredients, and then like you said, the actives in the Western world.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_06: Um, did your formulation specialist have any issues with mixing the two?
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_06: And like, you know what I mean?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_06: Did you run into any kind of issues with that or or are you facing any issues like that?
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, we can talk a little bit about the labs and finding a chemist because that's actually a super, super difficult task when you're just starting out and you're not from the industry.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I would say finding a lab can be one of the biggest hurdles.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_03: I have talked to probably like a hundred different labs.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_03: It's been a really crazy journey, and a lot of it is about one, the competency of the chemist that you work with, and two, how transparent they are with you.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, I had been doing so much research, talking to so many different people, and I had finally decided, okay, I'm gonna use this one lab.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, we went through the whole product development process, and they just couldn't nail down what I was trying to do.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, I don't know the the ingredients they would use, they would tell me this is the most stable vitamin C, blah, blah, blah.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_03: When I would get the samples to my house, the vitamin C would have oxidized or it would have like crystallized into these little, you know, little balls.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_03: And they maybe they couldn't find a way to make it work.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_03: But when I would, you know, ask them and really grill them about the chemistry behind behind why isn't this working?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_03: Why is this forming doing this?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_03: They would not be transparent with me.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_03: And they were just like, Oh, you know, sometimes this happens, or kind of I just felt very um that's shaky.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_06: That's shaky ground on which you're for you know forming your business.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_06: I I can't imagine taking that as an answer either.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_06: You know, that's that's not an okay answer.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_03: You have an okay answer, and I have to sell this, and it's my my brand and my you know, um everything is is is at my risk.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: So, of course, the chemists are gonna tell you all they're trying to do is sell something, right?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_03: Like right away, get the business, get an order.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_03: The chemists are gonna tell you whatever, whatever you want to hear.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that for an indie beauty brand, it's really important that you do your research, that you know what you're talking about.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_03: Like when I talk to the chemists, I know what they're talking about.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_03: I actually took a formulation class with Formula Botanica.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if you guys have heard of them, they're awesome.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: So I did that, like I really took the time to learn first.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so I kind of know what chemists are talking about.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_03: So they can't, you know, just pull something over my head and give me a kind of BS answer, honestly.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so um, anyways, after all that, after months and months of researching, I actually found an Indian chemist that another brand founder recommended to me.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: She's worked with a lot of brands, so I was so so happy to find her.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_03: And she is much more familiar with the Ayurvedic ingredients, and she's also familiar with using the types of ingredients that I wanted, the powerful actives, combining them with the natural ingredients because a lot of times you'll find with the labs, like they will also play into the marketing, right?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_03: They'll want we are 100% natural, blah blah blah.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, no, I don't want something to just be 100% natural blindly.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_03: I want it to be 100% effective.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: I want the ingredients to be actually good for your skin, whether or not they're synthetic.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_03: I care about one, how effective it is for your skin, two, whether it's sustainable or not, because you know, just because something is natural, it doesn't mean that it's sustainable.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_03: And three, whether it's safe for your skin.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_03: So a lot of times the labs themselves will play into the marketing, and and especially the labs that um, you know, target the indie beauty brand founders who are not from the industry, they will use a lot of that marketing.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_03: So it's also important to find a lab that that um you know has the same ingredient theory and philosophy as you do.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_06: That's yeah, I mean, that's so well said on your part.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, I haven't seen any um person I've spoken to, I don't know about you, Fraheen, but be so transparent about their process.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_06: You know what I mean?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_06: Like it's it's such a breath of fresh air.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I I'm always transparent, and you know, if anyone ever has questions, just to put this out there because I've learned so much from other founders, and um I'm I'm happy to share everything I've learned as well.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_05: That's amazing.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_04: So when are you planning on launching your first products to the general public?
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, we are planning to launch April 2021, depending on how the testing goes.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so right now we're in product development.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, like I mentioned, there was a bit of a delay because I had to switch labs and all.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_03: So we are finalizing the ingredient decks now, and then we will get our first samples, do a couple rounds of feedback.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_03: I plan to involve the community in the feedback, um, actually send the samples out to some of our strongest supporters, and then you know, go through those rounds of feedback.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: Then you have to do stability testing, microbial testing, all the all of the um testing that needs to be done, and that actually can take a couple months.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_03: So we are planning an April 2021 launch.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and you know, that's not a set-in-stone deadline because especially with COVID, there have been a lot of delays.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_03: But that's that's what we're planning.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_03: And yeah, we're we're so excited.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_03: The team and I, we just can't wait.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, recently I've actually brought on a couple interns and they've been so amazing, and we've had so much support like from the Instagram community as well.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_03: Just everyone's always asking, when are you launching?
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_03: When are you launching?
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_06: Well, we're excited.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_06: We're so excited for your brand.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, I I remember I found you on um, I just randomly came upon your um your Instagram page and I was like, oh my goodness, I love her, I love your color scheme, I love the you know, the the images you had up and not to mention, um, for all of our listeners out there, you guys need to check out um their webs or their Instagram page because you guys have some amazing photography in um you know, beautiful, like, you know, I I'm guessing it's in India, right?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_06: Like the along okay, yeah.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_06: It's so beautiful.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_06: And so when I saw that, I was so intrigued because um, you know, just being in the Instagram scene, both Farin and I, you know, we see a lot of brands, right?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_06: We see a lot of brands coming up, and um, but that preservation of culture and that preservation of just sticking to your roots, um, and then also in a way westernizing it is so unique, I think, to you guys because I haven't seen that anywhere else personally.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, and thank you so much for for bringing that.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: I was so scared, honestly, to do that because where do you where else do you see like Sabya Sachi being featured in a skincare brand and all of the Indian things that I post?
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, like you said, a lot of times they are kind of overly westernized.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_03: And so to me, I recognize that we have to make Indian beauty, Indian culture, Indian fashion, it has to be aspirational.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: I was listening to the um Tatcha's founder, Vicky Tsai, on how I built this.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if you guys listened to how I built this, but you know, she was talking about how like 10-15 years ago she was told that Asian beauty wasn't aspirational.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_03: People didn't people didn't look up to to Japanese or Chinese people as an aspiration for for beauty.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_03: And look, that's crazy.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't I didn't realize that.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_03: Well have the most amazing skin.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_03: But that but that also took a lot of you know, those brands coming together and and making it a thing.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like, look at Korean beauty, they overcame that that like narrative that they weren't aspirational, and they did that together, and so that's something that's so important for us.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't shy away one from using those Indian images, um, featuring Indian um like temples and featuring Indian culture.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_03: That was really important to me, and also connecting with other South Asian brands.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we're actually friends, you know.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of the South Asian founders people might say you guys are competitors, but it's actually really important that we come together and and support each other, otherwise, iBeauty or Indian beauty will never really be a thing.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_06: So it just a sh um offshoot of that.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_06: Um, how did you find that how did you bring that um uniqueness to your brand as compared to other South Asian brands that you are working that you were talking to?
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_06: Like what what was that process for you?
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_03: So for me, one, I think what is really unique about Zela is that, like I say, we are ingredient driven.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_03: We're not a hundred percent natural brand.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: We will always use whatever ingredient is actually the most effective for your skin.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_03: It's not about what's the most marketable and all of that, it's really about does it work or does it not work?
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's one because I think we are one of the only Indian brands to actually really use that powerful active ingredients, whether they're synthetic or not.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_03: That's one.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I hear Oh, sorry, go ahead.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_04: No, no, no, go ahead.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_04: Um, let I'll let you finish before okay.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was gonna say the other thing that really makes Zela unique is is also the branding, right?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_03: Like I was kind of tired of all the minimal brands.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_03: You know, if you like the minimal aesthetic, that's awesome too.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_03: I just wanted to do something different because truly, like, there's not much that's minimal about Indian culture.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_03: Like, there's our food, our fashion, everything is so full of color and so full of you know, just the exact opposite of life.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, life.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_03: So you guys know what I'm talking about, and I I really wanted to infuse that into the brand.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_03: I wanted to, I didn't want that minimal like aesthetic.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_03: I wanted it to be full of color and life and and really feature our culture in a way that was, you know, actually honoring it and not just using it for marketing purposes.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's so important.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_04: So I won't particularly uh name a brand that I'm thinking of that referring to, but there is a brand that's more clean beauty that I um like I know the founder is South Asian, but you know, I never gravitated to it.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_04: Even though she was South Asian and she was using um South Asian ingredients and she was crafting this kind of South Asian woman-owned brand, it didn't appeal to me.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_04: Um, because like it occurred to me that I wasn't in our audience and she was using it for marketing and not as an authentic source for inspiration or using it as a way to connect to the South Asian community.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_04: I think that's such a shame because South Asian people love skincare, like all my friends love it.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_04: Like Ekta and I are total skincare nerds.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_04: But you know what?
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_04: There's not like that one brand where I'm like, oh my gosh, like I connect with this brand on a more personal level, and it doesn't feel like um it's being, for lack of a better term, like uh cleansed for the Western corruption in some way.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know if that means that um but you know because someone who's not South Asian, it like looks very authentic, but it doesn't feel that way to me.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_04: So, and the reason I bring that up is not to like bash this other brand, but to say that I think you've managed to do that with your branding and with your Instagram page.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_04: Because when I go on there, I'm like, I see beautiful imagery, I see a celebration rather than appropriation, um, which is really cool.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so so much.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_03: That really means a lot to me, especially because you know, I didn't have like I didn't have a budget for a big branding agency and all that.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_03: I really truly just post what I like.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so I had just the same feeling that you guys have, like when you go to other brands' pages, and you know, they're beautiful brands as well.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_03: Every brand has their own niche and their way of doing it, but I just wanted I wasn't seeing like what I liked, so yeah, exactly.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_03: I just I really wanted to to ground the brand in the actual fact that it's it's Indian, and you'll see that a lot of brands they may use words like adaptogenic, blah blah blah, and and that's fine.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_03: Once again, no shade to those brands, and sometimes you have to do that, right?
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like when the marketing world defines something as adaptogenic, it's very hard for the smaller brands to not use that because no one is gonna recognize like just Ayurvedic, or not no one, but less people are gonna recognize Ayurvedic versus adaptogenic, right?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_03: So for us, I try to combine those.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_03: I try to say Ayurvedic adaptogens plus powerful actives, you know, just so that it's still grounded in in the Indian culture and Indian traditions.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_04: And the fact that, like, unfortunately, uh, you know, you're kind of um subject to the algorithm for Google and marketing when people are Searching for that, you want to be able to um leverage those words to be even associated with yeah for searches and so on and so forth.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_04: So I have a question.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_04: Um this goes back to formula development.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and you may or may not have um listened to some of our other podcasts, but um Ectha, through her research, you know, found that darker skin um just is subject to or may need a little bit different um skin care, like different formulations for it to work.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_04: So if um if there was a if that was a consideration, um how did you manage that?
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_04: And how did the lab adapt the the products for darker skin?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_03: So I actually I find that interesting.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_03: I actually have pretty dark skin.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so for me and darker skin tones in general, usually hyperpigmentation is the number one concern when I surveyed the South Asian population too.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_03: Everyone said hyperpigmentation that was like our biggest thing.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_03: And so I really focused on products that was gonna help with brightening and and hyperpigmentation.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that the narrative you have to be really careful.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: Like I never say I never market the ingredients as skin lightening, you know.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_03: We always want to talk about brightening the skin and also and and you know, embracing our melanin.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_03: We shouldn't be talking about skin bleaching.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_03: And so when looking for ingredients, I really considered what was gonna be the best for hyperpigmentation, what was gonna be the best for brightening.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_03: And so the first three products we're launging with is actually a first of all, it's gonna be a cream, and then we're gonna have a vitamin C serum, a really powerful one, and a resurfacing mask with AHAs and BHAs because those are the ingredients that I felt were the best for darker skin tones.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_06: That's amazing.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_06: I love that.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_06: I can't I I'm really excited to try relaxing for anything.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks so much.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I'm yeah, it's been like such a journey, and I was really excited to just narrow down.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_03: I had so many ideas, you know, when you're just starting out, you have like 11,000 ideas in your head.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I just had to narrow it down to those three things that were gonna be the most effective and what the majority of the population wanted.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, darker skin was definitely so how did you how did you go about serving the community?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_06: Like, did you just put something out there or did you actively like go seek like specific, you know what I mean?
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_03: Like skincare influencers or you know what how do you So I was actually I had been doing market research for a pretty long time before starting the Instagram.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_03: The Instagram was started probably two months ago, and before that, I was just serving um friends and family plus like my formula botanica community, and I actually got a decent amount.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_03: I think maybe I had like 300 um responses total.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_03: I just really was aggressive and having my friends share with their friends, and so I had a really good mix of age ranges and um South Asian people and non-South Asian people, so that's how I just started surveys, really just like Google and having my friends and family share it with people who were also into skincare.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then once I started the Instagram, we had another survey.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_03: You might have seen it.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_03: We have a product development survey that really asks a lot about your preferences.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um we've learned so much from that survey.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_03: Actually, it really influenced some of our decisions, even like which type of AHAs, BHs to use, which type of vitamin C to use, um, getting really specific with it based on people's bad experiences that they've had with certain um ingredients.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, so that's how we did the survey.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_03: That survey we have, I'm looking at it right now.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_03: We have a decent number of responses as well on that, and people are really excited to take it.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we we involved the Instagram community, and I think people appreciate that a brand is kind of taking that.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, and I think I saw you guys also doing one for packaging.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_06: Um, you guys have you know questions up on your stories about, you know, what do you guys like for packaging?
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_06: I love that.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_06: I love that you're involving the community so much because really, you know, I could imagine that it would be kind of a hit or miss.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_06: You know, if you just come up with your own idea and then nobody likes it, you're like, oh gosh, you know.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not I'm not an expert, like I don't know everything, and just because I like something doesn't mean the majority of people will like something.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_03: And sometimes I honestly am surprised by by the results that we get in the polls because they are the opposite of what I thought they'd be.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_03: So, yep, I love the polls um that Instagram stories offers.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_03: We get a lot of responses on those, and I think they're also fun to take.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_03: I love taking them for other people's accounts too.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, yeah, I do too.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, so I mean, okay, honestly, I'm gonna ask you one question, and I know for Heans, like she already knows what this is because I ask everybody about the medicine part of this, okay?
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_06: So, how is it important for you as a brand to involve people like dermatologists or aestheticians or you know, just people we consider skincare experts in the field?
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, is that something that you're looking into in the future?
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_06: Um for sure.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_03: And I actually have a call scheduled with a dermatologist, she's also South Asian, um, she's a family friend.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_03: I want to have her involved in finalizing the actual ingredient decks, you know.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_03: Like I said, we're still in that process, and so I have the opportunity.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, there were all those delays with the labs and everything, but now I have the opportunity to involve even more people, which I love.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_03: And so I'm gonna have her involved in the actual um finalization of the ingredient decks, helping me um tweak those, you know, that way I have the you know, the dermatologist point of view and the cosmetic chemist point of view, because they're not necessarily the same.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_06: Exactly.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_06: That's so good.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_06: I love that.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_06: I absolutely love that because dermatology right now, I know on Instagram there's this whole corner of you know, just dermatological community that's you know, they're really kind of making their own statement in a way about skincare and they're really coming out with their opinions about what works, what doesn't work, you know, all that.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_06: So I I would love to see more lines such as yours, you know, really incorporate that expert opinion because you know, at the end of the day, um, oftentimes, you know, dermatologists kind of get overstepped, I think, by a lot of skincare, you know, brands.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_06: So yeah, that's amazing.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_06: I'm so glad to hear that.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_03: I would even love to share it with you and get your opinion.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_03: Like I said, I I love getting everybody else's opinions because I don't know everything.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_03: So that that is really important to me, and I'm happy to get your feedback on it too.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_03: And totally agree with you.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_03: I think now it's it's actually really cool to be seeing all the dermatologist accounts on Instagram, the aesthetician accounts.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, for sure they were overshadowed because it it's the marketing, right?
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_03: Like the marketing just takes over so much of the beauty world, and it really can overshadow the people who actually have the the opinions that are based in science and not just what like some publication wrote for their own marketing purposes, yeah.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_06: Exactly.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_06: Exactly, yeah.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_06: No, I I think that with the publication thing, that's a big thing because a lot of companies will pay um, you know, scientists to just come up with whatever, and it's like, you know, this is not helpful to anybody, you know what I mean?
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_06: So it's like even someone like yourself, like on the entrepreneur's um side of things, when you go on to like a research site and you don't see real, you know, grounded research, it's like you don't really know where to go, I would assume, right?
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like it's very confusing, and it's so confusing to the consumer too.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_03: Like when you Google things and the first thing you see on it about ingredients are from you know the major publications, it it can be kind of biased and it takes a lot of work to actually get to okay, where are the clinical trials?
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_03: And that's something I learned to research um, you know, through Formula Botanica and just taking the time to do so.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, it it definitely gets overshadowed even just on Google.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I'm I'm glad you you asked that.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_03: And that is, like I said, one of the unique things I think about Zela versus other brands is it's really not just about the marketing.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_03: I really want to use those proven ingredients combined with the Ayurveda ingredients.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's what really excites people because it's something different, and I think the consumer today even I have noticed people are a little frustrated with like the whole clean beauty scene.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what does that even mean?
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_06: What is clean beauty?
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_06: Exactly.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_06: Yes, I'm so glad you're saying that because I don't know what clean, I'm not gonna lie to you guys, I don't know what clean beauty is.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_03: What if I mean it's so confusing, and once again that comes down to the marketing.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_03: And I think every brand's version of what is clean, like I I could consider Zela clean, and and another brand might consider it not clean if I use something synthetic or I'm using like a proper preservative and not a natural preservative, right?
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_03: It's all so dependent on what you um what information you consume and what information you decide to be clean or not.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_06: Exactly.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_06: No, exactly.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, I think I think I saw a post by a dermatologist the other day, and he was talking about how, you know, you guys are just um demonizing parabens, and you don't, you know what I mean, you don't have to do that.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_06: This is not something that is all like a, you know, it's not a black and white thing.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_06: It's absolutely a gray area.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_06: And to completely demonize something in an entire in a billion-dollar industry is you know, that's that's a big statement.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_06: You know what I mean?
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_06: That's a huge statement.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_06: So yeah, the whole clean beauty movement for me, I I mean, from my perspective, it was never something that really I looked for in products.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_06: I'm not gonna lie, you know, like me and for hean and I always discuss like our favorite skincare lines and stuff.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_06: And you know, for me, one of them is Neode.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_06: And I, you know, it's completely based in chemistry.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_06: Their entire, you know, you know, concept is based in just chemistry.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_06: And I personally prefer that over going onto Sephora's website and seeing that little free beauty check mark, you know what I mean?
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so it's totally and the reason I mean it is so confusing for the consumer that of course Sephora came out with that, and other retailers have come out with that because the consumer is just so confused with all the different like conflicting information, you know.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I I was personally very frustrated with the um whole parabens thing.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_04: And I mean, I from my limited research, I just um I personally I couldn't find anything conclusive on it being bad, but you know, you want to avoid it anyway, or I guess to be on the safe side, like the EU just banned it altogether, which is such a shame because um I was reading another article saying that it's one of the um, you know, most um like it's one of the best preservatives they have on the market.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_04: Like it's not irritating to the skin.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_04: And for me personally, I've had products go bad on me and it's so disgusting.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_04: And you're you know, visually is how we or I can see that something has gone bad, but then that makes you think like, oh, you know, it had to get to this point.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_04: So I've been using this, you know, on and off for however very long, and I'm not sure at what point it went bad, and it's you know, way below the shelf life that's indicated on the packaging, and you know, I don't keep it anywhere where it's should be going bad.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_04: So I've had my frustrations with products within with that didn't have good preservatives, and I don't know, like as a consumer, I don't know which way to go from that point.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_04: So right?
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_03: It's like you're being guilt tripped into oh my god, this preservative is so bad for me, it's gonna harm me and all this, and then you spend your money on a product that goes bad, and then you're it's just a complete waste.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I've had the same experience buying um, you know, preservative free products and having them completely go bad.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_03: And even though I've done, you know, kept it in the fridge and kept it in the dark and kept it airtight and all that, it it's just like that's also just too much work for a consumer to go through thinking about oh my god, where do I keep this product and that product?
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_03: It's very hard.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_04: And to buy a whole nother appliance just to the skincare fridge.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_05: Oh my gosh.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_05: The skincare fridge is back.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_06: Like, where am I even supposed to put that?
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_06: On our last episode, Mamita, on our last episode, Fareen and I were talking about the skincare fridge idea and how much BS that is, and just like, you know, it's like I'm not going to go and buy a fridge for my baby.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I remember one more thing to put in my like bedroom or my tree feels so losing.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_05: He's like, we don't need another appliance up here.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_05: First of all, I'm pretty sure he's gonna think that it's for food.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_05: And he's like put some beers in there or something.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_03: And that's the thing, right?
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_03: The more problems the industry invents, the more solutions there are.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_03: And now, hey, let's go and have to both buy more things, right?
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's it's very confusing for consumers.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_06: So yeah, I so one question I do have, um, Lamita, is that no, so in my earlier days in my research career, I worked with extract.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_06: So I published a pa paper a long time ago about um the you know, the use of mint or turmeric or eucalyptus and how it act or how it benefits people with like acne-crone skin.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_06: You know what I mean?
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_06: So I I tested it against a bunch of different um bacterial strains.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_06: So my question really is um, when you're using these Ayurvedic ingredients, are you looking more into an extracted form of the ingredients?
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_06: Um, or are you looking at like a powder, like a full organic form?
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_06: Like how did you because I feel like that's such a tricky area, right?
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_06: With Ayurvedic ingredients.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, there's so much in the world.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_03: Which it gets confusing when you're doing research.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_03: Like if you look at Ashwagandha, like the root can be used for arthritis, the leaves are used for something else, the flowers have astringent properties.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_03: So I try to research like which part of the plants is actually being used in cosmetic um formulations, and yeah, exact exactly what you're saying.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_03: I'll use different extracts or different parts of the plant for its skincare purpose.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_03: So, for example, with Himalayan sea berry or sea buckthorn, the seed oil is what's really, really good for the skin.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_03: The fruit oil is great as well.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not sure if you're familiar with that plant.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_03: And then in India, like they use the leaf and the twigs and the roots for other things too.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_03: So it just depends on which has the highest concentrations of activities and vitamins that are actually meant for the skin.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_06: That's very interesting.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_06: That's that's really interesting because yeah, I I figured because you know, you're right, like you know, neem, for example, right?
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_06: Like the neem leaf, like it's used for, I think my mother told me about this.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know if you guys have used it, but apparently it's a very good if you use neem and put it in like a bath, and then you just in like rural India, they use that for like you know, people who have really, really itchy skin, or like you know, something happens to where you know your skin is just extremely irritated, and they'll oftentimes they'll put that in the water, like the leaves in the water, and then they'll um you know, kind of you bathe in it, basically, right?
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_06: So that's that's very interesting to me that you say that that different parts of plants are you know used for different exactly.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't know that about meme people using it for bats.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_03: That's amazing.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_03: Another one that's yeah, yeah.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_06: My mom told me that.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_06: I didn't know it either.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_06: She was like, Yeah, back in you know, back in the day, because she grew up in rural India, you know what I mean?
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_06: So um, she was like that, you know, my mom used to she used to put that in their water, and you know, they would use it and it worked, and you know, everything was great.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_03: There's so many things like that, like so many of these Indian ingredients.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_03: Like, um, I don't know if you're familiar with moringa.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I saw it's another Ayurveda herb.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_03: The seeds are used, moringa seed oil, um, the leaves are used.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_03: The seeds apparently are also they have really strong antimicrobial properties, and they're used to purify water in rural areas.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I'm gonna try to find the video I saw and and send you, but in rural areas they actually use it to purify water, and you can like see the water changing color.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_03: It's crazy.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know how it works, but yeah.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_03: Oh wow, and and that's what's like I think so interesting about these types of ingredients, is because people literally like the use of these ingredients came from a need, and people were not like going to the store and going to Sephora and spending so much money, they were just taking what was in their backyard and and figuring out how it works and have used it for generations, which I find so amazing.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_06: Yes, that is that's amazing.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_06: Now, okay, so this now you brought up Sephora and see my mind it always goes in these random directions, so excuse the randomness of my questions.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_06: Um but in terms of price point, I want to talk price because I think that right now a big problem in the skincare industry is that everyone wants to market things for like$100.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_06: And it's like, you know what, we don't have that money, especially with the pandemic and the way people are struggling right now.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_06: Where how did you come up with your price points?
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_06: You don't have to really tell us your price point yet because I know you guys haven't launched, but like when you were considering that, um, what are some of the values and things that you had in mind when you were, you know, just kind of.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_03: That is such a great question.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_03: Honestly, that's something I struggled a lot with.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I really wanted to be, I want to be in the mastiche price point, so kind of in the$40 range, something where it is affordable and not gonna completely break your budget.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_03: Because when I was starting this, um, you know, I did find some other Indian brands, and they're beautiful, amazing brands, but they were a little out of my price point, like coming just out of college.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_03: And so I wanted to create something that I could afford and that people, you know, could afford that were younger because my target audience is a little bit younger.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so here's the thing I can kind of I have the insights into why it's so expensive.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like, why is a product a hundred dollars?
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_03: It's from the brand's perspective, I do see it because especially as an indie beauty brand, we just don't have the buying power.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_03: So when you're working with the labs and suppliers and manufacturers, you it it is pretty expensive to you as a brand because you just don't have the buying power that other bigger brands do.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and they mark up their products so much as well.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, that's that's something another thing.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_03: So when I was finding labs, I really had to find the labs that were not going to force me to basically sell at that high of a price point, you know, to where I would be going out of business unless I sold products for 70 plus dollars.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_03: I really wanted to avoid that.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and and you know, that takes time time to find the labs who are pricing well, especially for the Indie Beauty brand.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_03: So, yep, the the pricing is I definitely want to keep it on the lower end.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_03: I wouldn't consider Zela like a luxury brand.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_06: That's very interesting.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_06: That's very interesting because I think that's a very good area, the that price point.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_06: I think most people can usually afford it.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, I I know that when I look at a product that's like$45, I'm not as hesitant as like, I'm not gonna lie to you guys, I just bought an overnight mask that's$85.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_06: Ask me why.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, see, I don't own any products like that because I literally can't afford that.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_03: So it it is, yeah, there definitely needs to be a bigger variety of pricing.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_06: I can't afford it either.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_06: I'm over here just spending money for no reason.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_06: Like I think if Ernie was trying to chime in, something else.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_04: Um, okay, so tell us about your team.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_04: Who's who are you who's kind of helping you with this?
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_04: Um, if someone was uh, you know, wanting to start a new brand, like what are the different components they need?
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_04: I I see this with a lot of founders, and I'm curious to get your thoughts on this.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_04: You know, founders wear a lot of hats.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_04: So, at what point did you feel like you needed help?
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and how did you manage all the different things?
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_01: There's a school in northern Virginia that's making college better.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_01: They offer over entrepreneur certificate and degree programs, they make tuition affordable and manageable through smaller payments over time, they make online learning accessible and enjoyable, and across six campuses, you can learn great careers like nursing, cybersecurity, skilled trades, and more.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_01: Northern Virginia Community College.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's the affordable, achievable, flexible, doable, possible, and credible college.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: Nova, we make college better.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_01: Apply now at boldinova.com.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yep, so I have been working on this alone for a year, and it just became a lot.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_03: Like you said, I do have a full time job.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: And consulting, and I have really long hours.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_03: We work weekends a lot.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_03: So I think I realized I needed help probably just a few weeks ago.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_03: It was becoming a lot.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I started the Instagram two months ago, and it's been amazing, growing so much.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_03: But you you guys both probably know how much work it is just to maintain one social media account.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_03: It's so much work.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, creating the content, engaging with people, DMing people, it's a lot.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I don't know how this happened, but like I feel like the universe just something just aligned because a couple weeks back, like it was getting really truly so overwhelming.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_03: And then Song Watson, I don't know if you guys know her, Song Watson from Song Watson Beauty on Instagram.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_03: She just reached out and wanted to intern and help.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_03: And um, she's been amazing in helping with helping with manage the social media.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_03: And then after Song, it came so many more people just wanting to help.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Autumn from Pretty Skincare, Truthi from Bedication by Truthi, um, Farzine from Skincare Connoisseur.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_03: They're all amazing, they're all in the community, they all run their own pages and have like their own lives, but still wanted to help me and believe in this brand, which I am just so grateful for.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_03: And so now I have all of that help from them.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_03: And it's just been so like such a blessing that I have help from them.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_03: And yeah, it definitely as a founder, I do so many different things in a day.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_03: Like I can switch from product development to doing finances to um networking with other founders to then managing the interns and then doing content creation, like it's just so much in a day.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I'm still learning, still getting better at like splitting up my time.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, it it's you definitely need help and um you you can't do it everything by yourself forever.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think sometimes when you're um, you know, it's your brand and you just you want to have the control because it's your project, it's your baby, but sometimes it can really be overwhelming and you just burn yourself out, and then you know, your your brand suffers as a result.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_04: So it is really important to take time and understand your limitations and be okay asking for help.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_04: I I think that's amazing when people realize that and do it and get ahead of burnout.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_03: Mm-hmm.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I definitely was afraid to ask for help, and I was lucky enough that other people had offered it to me.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_03: Like I wasn't gonna look for interns um for a very long time, to be honest.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_03: So I I was just really lucky in that way.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_03: And yeah, I I really have so much help from them, and I do have I do struggle with like kind of having the control over everything, but I think there's ways to get around it.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_03: So, for example, with my social media interns, they do a lot of the um, you know, engagement and connecting with people, but I have control over the DMs because that's really where I connect with my audience, and I'm just obsessed with like talking with everybody on my page and getting to know everyone.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, you can pick and choose where you need to have the control.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, by the way, thank you so much for being so good with your DMs.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_06: Because when I Breen, when I first reached out to Amita, like she immediately responded.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_06: I was shook.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_06: I was like, because I saw your page and I was so like, you know, enamored by it.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_06: I was like, oh my gosh, you've got this beautiful, you know, layout.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_06: And then she immediately responded, and I was just like, we had that phone conversation, and we I was just like, wow, this is really, really cool.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_06: Like, you're really on top of it.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_06: You really want to engage with the people that, you know, want to support you.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_06: And and I think that is so important because lately I've been, you know, kind of venturing out myself and I've been having trouble because you know, you reach out to people and oftentimes you'll never hear back from them, you know, or you'll you'll hear back like way later.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_06: So I think as a founder and um, you know, especially for a new skincare line, being available to your public, being available to your consumers, I think that goes a long way.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_06: It's that personal touch, I feel like, you know.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, totally agree.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_03: And thank you so much for appreciating that.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_03: I definitely put a lot of um work into it, but I love answering the DMs and also DMing people.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of times I will DM people first too, because I just want to get to know them.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_03: And um, yeah, it's been like you said, I think people appreciate it and like talking to the founder and having like that personal connection behind the brand.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, yeah, definitely.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_06: Um, so really, I mean, that you answered everything I had in mind, honestly.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_06: I I'm just so blown away with how organized you are and how beautifully this is all coming together.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, truly congratulations on your line.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, thank you so much.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that you've been like, I remember you were one of the first supporters.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I will never forget that.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm I'm always shocked by how many people are so supportive this early on.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_03: Like, you don't even know the products or anything, but you still take the time to support me, and that means so, so much to me.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_06: And the I it's my pleasure, it's really my pleasure, it's our pleasure to host you here, truly, because you know, we are Freheen and I are always looking for people that we believe in, right?
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_06: Like, I mean, oh yeah, definitely, yeah, exactly.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_06: Like, yeah, it's like it's hard to find that, I feel like on in the Instagram space.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_06: So, yeah, when I saw your page, and I know when I showed it to Fraen, she was like, Oh, this is amazing.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_06: So, you know, maybe we both were just like, this is great.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I'm so excited for your ventures as well.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_03: And maybe I can, you know, one day I can interview you guys and we'll all stay in touch and support each other.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_06: And so and I absolutely and I actually we would love to have you back for your first product launch.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_06: Oh my god, um if that's okay with you because we want to be the first ones to grab you as soon as that product comes out.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_06: So, you know, um, we would love to have you back on the on the show and um really learn more about what you come out with first and just share it with our audience and you know, just bring just spread the love.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_06: Really spread the love.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_03: We will be the first ones, and I'm so so thankful that you you guys have taken so much interest in Zela and are so supportive.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_03: I will definitely be back.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_06: Okay, great.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_06: Well, thank you guys out there for listening to another episode of Skincare Anarchy.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_06: Um, we will be back as usual with another amazing host.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_06: Uh, thank you so much, Mamita, once again.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_06: It was such a pleasure speaking with you.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, thank you both for having me.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_04: I'm so glad congratulations again.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_04: I really, really commend you.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_04: This is such a huge undertaking, and I'm so excited to see what you have in store for us.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so excited to share everything with you both.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_03: All right, talk to you guys next time.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_03: Bye-bye.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_03: All right, bye.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_06: Bye.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_06: Hey guys, so I hope you love that episode.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_06: Please make sure to hit subscribe if you're tuning in to us on any podcast platform.
• 51:12
  SPEAKER_06: We are available on so many different platforms.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_06: So wherever it is that you're tuning in, just go hit subscribe.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_06: You will be immediately notified when we publish new episodes.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_06: This way, you're able to tune in to amazing insights from experts, brand founders, industry leaders, authors, all the wonderful people that we host.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_06: And that's very important for me because I love to hear from you guys and really understand what you love and what you want to hear more of.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_06: Also, make sure to give us a follow on all of our social media outlets.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_06: We're available on Instagram, TikTok, X, you name it, or there.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_06: We also have a blog on Medium.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_06: So if you're a reader and you love Medium blogs, check us out on Medium.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_06: We publish some really great articles on there that do deeper dives than just what's available on the podcast, and it's really a great place for all of you science geeks out there that want to learn a little bit more.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_06: We go above and beyond with our research and making sure we're bringing you information that you usually probably won't hear about in other outlets.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_06: So check us out, leave us a comment, leave us a review, and we'll be back next time with another episode.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_06: Thank you.