Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / 6 quick questions with Emily Hamilton, Co Founder of Coco & Eve (Part 2)

Transcript

6 quick questions with Emily Hamilton, Co Founder of Coco & Eve (Part 2) · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  Welcome back. Here are the six quick questions. So question number one is, what's your why? Why are you waking up every single day and building the brands under Supernova?
• 0:23
  breakthrough innovation and coming from e-commerce you know most of my career where you get instant feedback when you work on a product for years and an idea for years it's so amazing when you bring it to market and people love it it's devastating when they don't so um but that's my that's my why I love that and just doing something different and
• 0:51
  really challenging myself and the team. Have you ever launched something that wasn't a hit that you had to backtrack on? Yep. Do you want to talk about it?
• 1:08
  So I think that one of the, I mean, it's not a flop. It's been quite successful actually, but one of our, so our shampoo, so that Like A Virgin Super Hydrating Shampoo
• 1:23
  is definitely one we worked on for so long and we were really pushing the envelope. It had to be sulphate-free. You had to have this really high naturality. And hair care is really difficult to find that balance. No silicone, so, you know, really clean formula. Hair care is just, it's so difficult.
• 1:47
  to really find that balance. Because at the end of the day, people prioritise efficacy over naturality or clean ingredients. So we definitely push the boundary there and I think that we've got lots of shampoo and conditioner launches coming up. I want a product that everybody loves and this product has definitely been loved by people with more dry hair.
• 2:13
  curly hair but those with more and more fine hair it's just definitely been mixed feedback so it sells really well so I definitely get good feedback but I want everybody to love it and and so that's probably one of the biggest learnings and hair care is so difficult to make a shampoo and conditioner like a shampoo it's taken as many years and working with the right manufacturer but um
• 2:40
  I think we've cracked the code now, so June we've got some launches coming up. It's going to be better. But, you know, like that feedback is sometimes the feedback can be, so we launched a body sunscreen and it was literally like a week ago. In America people want to know is it Hawaii reef safe compliant? Is it have this ingredient and that ingredient? And so we had to do.
• 3:06
  pivot a little bit in our communication. So those things you can fix. So, you know, feedback can be various things. Yes, feedback pushes you forward even though sometimes it hurts. Yeah. Question number two is what's been your favourite marketing moment so far? I think when we launched The Tan, it was an instant hit and really focusing on...
• 3:36
  I think we believed why the sort of the formula and the magic that we put onto hair care can work across all categories and we just wanted to be a really different and integrated beauty brand. So I think that was...
• 3:55
  the biggest achievement. We got lots of PR and we did a campaign where it was really about a strategy of laddering. So you look at, okay, you know, focusing on a negative, no bad tan smells, which was really the key.
• 4:13
  for that and sort of really embracing body imperfections and were really the first to show your stretch marks and, you know, celebrate you. So that campaign was, it just took off immediately. So that was definitely the, you know, amazing moment. Love that. I read you sell something crazy like a bottle every 20 seconds.
• 4:39
  We sell a thousand a day, yeah. Jesus. Wow, that's amazing. Gosh, goodness. Question number three is what's your go-to business resource when you have to think about a book or a podcast or a newsletter that you consume? There's so many. You know what I'm loving now and I have to say, there's so many branding experts on TikTok.
• 5:06
  And so those ones I really consult. So seek them out. There's, you know, there's a lot on there. So really, really thinking about your brand and your positioning, I'd say that first of all, but sort of business of fashion and global cosmetics newsletters, they're definitely things I love to read and, you know, giving you perspective on the industry.
• 5:33
  But I also go, I see manufacturers, I go to all the events. So it's on the ground talking to people as well. So these events are open to everybody. So get talking to people and see what they're seeing on the ground. Keep up to date with what's happening in technology and innovation in the beauty space for sure. Yeah.
• 5:54
  Question number four is how do you win the day? What are your AM or PM rituals and habits that keep you feeling happy and successful and motivated? For me there's, yeah, I wish I had a recipe. I'm a mum, I have two young kids, I have a husband, I have a very busy job and I'm,
• 6:21
  What used to get me down is just, you know, the overwhelmingness of it every day and really switching your mindset. This is awesome. I have so many opportunities. I got over the imposter syndrome, like, oh, what if this is not going to work and the doubts and...
• 6:41
  just having a great team and something to look forward to and, you know, great husband and kids. So that's how I just go through the day. It sometimes takes me. I wish I had that formula to win the day, but, you know, just working hard and being grateful and thankful.
• 7:03
  that we can be so busy and have lots to do. How did you shift your mindset? I feel like it's a hard thing to do sometimes. Oh, you know, I think that everybody had those moments out of COVID, right? So COVID just made all of our lives traumatic.
• 7:23
  And it just wasn't feasible to go on. So you had to make changes and a lot of people changed. I feel I'm not alone with that. I think a lot of people changed their mindset and
• 7:38
  you know, just said, well, this is busy, this is tough. You know, what we lived through COVID, you know, even a business, you have demand here, it shifts to here, just every day, the warehouse is closed for a week, now they're open again, you know, there's...
• 7:56
  It was just problems every day. And I think, you know, when you talk about, you know, just solve the problems, get to the bottom of them, solve the problems, you just see the progress much quicker than like, oh, my God, I've got all these problems. It's just overwhelming me. So I think that was a bit of it, a bit of the moment of dealing with everything. Yes. No other choice.
• 8:22
  No other choice, yeah. Question number five is what is your worst money mistake and how much did it cost you? I think that we're pretty good. I mean, we are a self-funded business and, you know, we learn from these little mistakes over the years. I think that what has been the most challenging and the most confronting that was kind of,
• 8:51
  out of our control or something you didn't see has definitely been the change in consumer demand that's shifted over the years and where they're buying and what they're buying. And I think that's been the most challenging. So really to figure out, okay, how do we make the right decisions but still stay flexible and build that into all of our systems? Yeah.
• 9:19
  Making wrong stock purchases I think has been the most painful because you want all your money and your investments to go to use. Absolutely. Question number six, last question. What is just a crazy story you can share, good or bad, from your journey in building Coco & Eve, Sand & Sky and anything under the Supernova brand? Yes.
• 9:45
  At the start of COVID in 2020, sorry I kept talking about COVID, but it was... It's a big part of our lives. Still fresh. This is a good story. So Donald Trump, when he was president, he gave out, like, the Trump check.
• 10:02
  And it's $1,000 to every American citizen. And he did this at the end of April. And it was our biggest sales month. We completely sold out. We sold 2,500 sales that day, like units.
• 10:18
  It was just an amazing boost to e-commerce and completely surprising and overwhelmingly good. Wow. The Trump check, yeah, we will never forget it. It was all of a sudden we're making all these sales. So consumers just took the money and they bought Coco and Eve. Oh, my gosh, that's so bizarre, the Trump check. Love it. So bizarre, yeah. It's a real story, yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah.
• 10:47
  Emily, thank you so much for taking the time to come on Female Startup Club today and share your journey in building these businesses and the playbook that's been working for you. I'm so grateful to have you on the show. Thank you. Thanks, June.
• 11:07
  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.
• 11:32
  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.
• 11:54
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that. Thank you.
• 12:10
  Hey, it's Dune 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.
• 12:34
  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.
• 12:57
  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.