Latest / Skin Anarchy / CEO of MARA beauty, Allison McNamara Interview

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CEO of MARA beauty, Allison McNamara Interview · Skin Anarchy

• 0:00
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• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: Hi guys, welcome back to Skincare Anarchy.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: This is our third season, and this is our third episode.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I would like to take a minute to just say the guest that we have on today is such an inspiration for me personally.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think she's a just a rock star, and I think that everything that she's doing with her line and her background is truly phenomenal.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: Without further ado, I want to introduce to you guys Allison McNamara.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: She is the CEO and founder behind Mara Beauty.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: She has been featured in every big publication out there, including Vogue, Allure, Glamour, you name it, and she's been featured in it, which is truly a feat.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm so, so excited to introduce Allison and let you guys hear a little bit about what went into making Mara what it is.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, Alison.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for joining us.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: So excited to talk to you.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much for having me.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm honored to be here.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: And like you said, I am the founder of Mara, which is a clean non-toxic line of algae-infused skincare.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, obviously clean beauty lines, so really efficacious, clean formulas that make your skin feel glowy and hydrated and just really transform the skin and skin texture.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: So a little about me.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I was a television host prior to launching Mara.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I had a decade of beauty and fashion experience.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I was a journalist, but also did a lot of on-camera work.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I was at a place called Pop Sugar where I would um host their digital content, and then um that kind of parlayed itself into a television, a television show.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then I ultimately went to Refinery 29 and then decided that um I didn't want to do YouTube videos forever.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I decided to follow my passion, which has always been beauty.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: I grew up with a family um with my parents working in skincare.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: So it was always something that was like um, you know, a dinner table conversation.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: We were always developing products and talking about things.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it was something I've always really wanted to do.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's just a part of like who I am.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: So it was it was the obvious next step for me.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm so happy that I found my way to uh Mara.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's amazing.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: So you kind of grew up in this like, you know, environment of just encouraging entrepreneurship, right?
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's that's amazing.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, neither of my parents are entrepreneurs, but um having my dad work so deeply in the beauty, skin, and color cosmetics world really like the normal dialogue.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like we spent weekends going to commercial shoots and we would talk about different products that he was helping develop.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so it was something that was just a part of our everyday life.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, the the the verbiage that you use with skincare was something I already was really well versed in.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: Different ingredients from you know, salicylic acid to benzyl peroxide.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like I knew about these ingredients when I was in like fourth grade.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: So Oh wow, yeah.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: So we were we were always talking about skin and what the next big thing was.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, getting to dream up Mara was really just a labor of fun love.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, and look, it shows actually your your skincare line from you know, everything I've seen and just the homework I did.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I love everything about what you guys are, you know, what you're coming out with.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I've never seen a line that's so focused on wanting the algae focus that you have.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_02: Can you think about that?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like what did you think of that like as a big ingredient?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, yeah.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I have always loved, I grew up in Southern California um with the ocean as my backyard, which I now took realize I took for granted because I don't live next to the ocean anymore.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: But growing up sad base, yeah.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: But growing up, I grew up uh in a place called Pallas Verdes.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so I just loved, I knew the ocean was always this kind of fountain of youth, and it was that grounding source for me throughout my life whenever I was going through something that was challenging or even celebrating something good.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: The ocean is kind of what always you know brought that grounding feeling to me.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so I've always known about the powers of algae for skin.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's some amazing brands that have done it before me, like LaMaire, uh, which I'm sure you know.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, alginist.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: But the idea was to do it in a really clean way.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: So when we started developing Mara in 2015, there wasn't really a brand that was really capitalizing on the efficacious algae ingredients that I wanted to use, but doing it in a really clean, non-toxic way.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: So, and doing it really in the oil space.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: So the idea for Mara came to me actually on a trip.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: I was in Istanbul, Turkey, and I like knew I was into algae because that was the products that I was always gravitating to.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but the idea for the name came from the Sea of Marmara over there.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Mara, yeah, Mara is the last four letters of my last name, and it also means I figured I'd everyone thinks, but no, I actually did not come up with it because of my last name.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like I actually was somewhere else and it was the Sea of Marmara, and then Mara, like I said, last four letters of my last name, but also I am a citizen of Ireland and the United States, and it pays homage to my Irish heritage because Mara means sea in Gaelic.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: So interesting.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like this is very interesting.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and the story behind the brand, like I think that's so important, like the ideation, and so the ideating process of Mara, all of that came together before we really selected, you know, what exact algae was going to be in there, but the ideating kind of all took shape at the same time, which is why I think Mara has such a nice cohesive story.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: That is amazing.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: That is like literally an amazing back, you know, backdrop, really.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: I have no idea.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: That's yeah.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: And so I, you know, growing up around um basically the source of you know the ingredient you're really focused on that's amazing to me.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: Because I think um, you know, this it it hits a place for me because I'm of Indian background, so I see a lot of brands use like you know, something they've never really been around, ingredients they don't really know much about.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: So for you to use something that you grew up learning about, knowing about, that is so amazing to me.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I really commend you on that.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's some amazing Ayurvedic brands too that I'm sure pay homage to your Indian heritage.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: You I love Ayurvedic ingredients, like we use um Ashwagandha in an upcoming product tease, um, which I know you guys you you guys love.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: So that's amazing.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: There are a lot of my friend has a really beautiful brand called Ranavat.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure if you're familiar with her, but you should have.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: I have heard of it, yes, but I've I I've I've heard of it, but I haven't explored it.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Let's put it that way.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's amazing.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: She makes beautiful products.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: I would love to, I would love to learn more about that.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna look it up.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: But um, I okay, so my honestly, one of my biggest questions is that when you were making you were coming up with this idea from R and you know, you were thinking about your first product launch and what you really wanted to like come out with.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: What hole in the skincare space or like you know, area were you did you think about that?
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm gonna try to fill this area because no one's doing this.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, like what what went through your mind with that?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, to be totally honest, like when I first started doing this, I was at a crossroads in my career.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't sure if I was gonna continue doing television work, I wasn't sure if I was going to start blogging or doing more influencer work.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: And Mara really started as like a dream and a side, like a side hobby in a way.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like I was going through the exercises of building the brand, but I wasn't sure if I was actually gonna do it or if anyone would like it.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I didn't necessarily say, like, I see this white space and I'm going to make this product, but through the ideation and formulation process, I had used so many different products already as a beauty editor before and just been around skincare for so long.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: But I knew that when we got on this formula that it was unlike anything I had used before.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: And that itself, I think that there's always room.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yes, the the beauty space is very saturated, but if you're passionate and you have a strong idea and a great formula, there's always room for more people, you know.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's why that's why I asked you, right?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: Because it's like, you know, I think it's not about the saturation, it's more of like you you're coming out with products that you know are working, right?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like that's what really interests me about you.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they work, and you know, not only do I believe in them, but I see our customers believing in them.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I think for the universal face oil, there wasn't necessarily a white space.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: I think at the time, even then, the face oil market was saturated, you know, and I did get that a lot of times when I was reaching out to retailers, like, oh, another face oil.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: But when they got ours in hand, they're like, oh, you use a totally different ingredient profile.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they're not looking for another argan oil or another marula oil.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, you know, ours, we use algae oil, which you know, we use a proprietary blend of algae, and then we mix that with moringa, which is a really big ingredient from Africa.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: And we weren't, I saw that it wasn't being used in the skincare space nearly as much as it should.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and especially not as an oil ingredient.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I think the way that we build our ingredient portfolios are so interesting.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's what really caught a lot of buyers, you know, beauty buyers' attention early on.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then of course, like the big skincare freaks were like, Oh my god, this uses like Bayobab and Calahol and Melon.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's like me.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, skincare freaks.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: No, but I mean, I mean, that's amazing.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I really actually want you to take a little tangent and tell me more about that ingredient, like your ingredient um decks, and like what really what went behind creating these products?
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: You know, who went behind it really?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Well, me.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, I do work with a professional formulation team, but you know, a lot of people ask me this like, oh, who comes up with the ideas?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I truly approach um all of our formulas, like how I would approach writing a story for an outlet.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I start with like the main body of it.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: What's the active that's gonna be in it?
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: Is it gonna be, you know, a hydrating product?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: Is it an active like a retinol product?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Is it you know a vitamin C?
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: So we start with the core and then I build out the story.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: We like clean synthetics with clean natural ingredients, and I like doing singular active formulas.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, a lot of brands really love blends of actives, but that's just kind of not the Mara approach.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: So for our retinol oil example, um, you know, we started with 1.2% clean retinol, put it in an oil form, which was unusual, but really hydrating, and then added on four really dense natural sources of vitamin A to kind of supercharge the synthetics, and then made sure the formula was really balanced so it doesn't you know hurt the skin barrier, it's always hydrating.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um we make sure the the ingredients have synergy.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I just do a ton of research, honestly, and I throw out like a ton of stuff to my lab, and we kind of go back and forth on on what we think would be the best fit, and then we start formulating, and then sometimes we get it quickly and sometimes we don't.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it just depends on the process, yeah, and deep in three new formulas right now, and um, I forget how like long the process is.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so impatient.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm an area, so I'm like, oh like this is so far off.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: We gotta go, we gotta start again, you know.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and I'm sure you're a little bit of a perfectionist too, I'm guessing.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: Virgo rising.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure if you're into astrology, but yes, I'm like the most anal.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a Scorpio, so I'm just trying like, yeah.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um but that's amazing, though.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: That's really cool, and it's really cool that you have this uh personal touch with every single thing that you come out with.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: I really love that because I know there are people that people start something and then they kind of give it over to the quote unquote experts, and I think they are losing in that situation personally, because you can sometimes I think you're the main expert for what you're trying to create, you know.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: That's how I see it.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: So that's really cool that you're so involved in the whole process.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think that's what makes skincare brands so different, though.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like the feel that I'm looking for is not the same feel that another brand is necessarily looking for.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like, that's why my products will speak more to some people and not as much to others, you know?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_02: So what was your target audience then?
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: Did you have a target audience in mind when you launched tomorrow, or did you just say, you know what, I'm just gonna do this and see who buys it?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it was important to me that it works on all skin types and tones.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I wanted to make sure we were, you know, focusing on things that worked for acne-prone skin types and sensitive skin types.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I wanted to make sure that all shade ranges were able to use our products.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, with our retinol product, that actually won the Essence Award for this year.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's powerful because I'm so fair.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: If you've seen how fair I am, I'm gonna see through.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: So the fact that, you know, this product won the Essence Face Oil Award for you know black skin is amazing because that really just shows the power and the versatility of these products.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that being said, that is amazing.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: No, that's really amazing because I mean, I just want to pause for a second because I am always looking for products, and especially in the skincare industry, that work for melanated skin.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I come from the side, you know, of this scientific approach, right?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_02: So some of our earlier podcasts obviously I've just ranted about, you know, well, does it work for everybody?
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: So to hear that, I mean, truly congratulations, first of all, to you.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um that is an amazing accomplishment.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: And also that you are you have a product that literally anyone can pick up, like that is huge.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I really I don't think there are many products right now like that.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: There's I have so many people ask me, hey, what's good for you know, like I'm South Asian, so what's good for South Asian skin?
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_02: What's good for black?
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I have no idea.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I can't give them, you know, suggestions most of the time.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_02: So that's crazy.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're really excited about that.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, like with anything, one size fits all is hard.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: So we do test on like a myriad of skin types and tones and textures.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's always going to be that one person who doesn't work for if you've got like ultra sensitive skin, I would say maybe don't start with our retina oil.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Start with our universal face oil, which really works on everyone.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um looking for something, you know, with hyperpigmentation or dark spots or you know, really kind of going aggressive on those wrinkles.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the retina oil again works on all skin types and tones.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're someone who's super sensitive, I would start out really slow, you know, like but that's how product should be.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's a balance.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: So um what is like, you know, what what was your okay?
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: So retinol, when I think of retinol, um I think of dermatologists, I think of you know what I mean?
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: I think of a clinical setting, I think of, you know, I I just don't see for me, retinol is a very tricky, tricky ingredient um in my mind.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: So how did you go about the process of formulating?
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, did you get dermatologists involved or what was the science side of this?
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_02: Other, you know, did you what did you do with the science side of this?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the retinol was actually the first product, which I actually want to send you when we get more in stock.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: We we had a crazy month.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, actually, I'd say quarter, because Chrissy Teagan, you know, teased our tagged our product on Instagram and we basically sold everything.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, which is amazing.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Chrissy.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, but please, please.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we love her, she's the best.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: But um, it's crazy because when you're, you know, when you use really exotic products, uh exotic ingredients like ours, it takes a long time to get these custom made.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, our retinol, to go back to your question, um, the retinol is really unique because I had been using retinol since I was uh like in my teens.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: I had a pretty big scar on my face, and my dad had given me this 0.1% neutrogen or retinol product to use on my skin.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not sure if you see what if you've seen what I look like, but I'm like I said, very very fair.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I used to have a face full of freckles, like Lindsay Lohan freckles all over my face.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and I I was using this retinol product to to reduce the scar, and actually, in turn, I have no freckles anymore.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I saw your from recently, so I don't have any freckles.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so you know, freckles, which I nothing wrong with freckles.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: I actually love freckles, but freckles are sun damage, and so years of using the this retinol product, um, and you're just using retinol in general, I noticed that my skin is has so much elasticity and has very minimal sun damage compared to what it used to be.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, the scar is completely gone.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um I find that that's so interesting because for darker skin, the main problem that everybody complains about is hyperpigmentation.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, freckles are a form of, right?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: So that's amazing.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: Freckles are hyperpigmentation, and yeah, they're just yeah, they're the exact same thing in a way.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I wanted to create a product because, like you said, people are scared of retinol, they they think dermatologists, they think, oh my god, my skin's gonna be so tight and peeling and all that stuff.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I wanted to really create a product that allowed people to get the amazing benefits of retinol without any of the dryness or peeling or the negative connotations that are normally associated with the retinol ingredient.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I think putting that in an oil was key.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Finding the type of retinol that we use, which is BHT, BHA, and free of parabens.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually utilized with a non-GMO soybean oil.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: I think that was really important.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then to answer your question about you know, all of our products are dermatologists tested, and we create it with a team, a team of scientists.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: They're all doctors.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that's important for us.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: We we make sure that all of our stuff is balanced and we're not gonna burn anyone's face off.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, like that's important parts of skincare.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I we don't have like a dermatologist that works on team Mara, like in-house, but our our formulation team, everything is clinically tested and dermatologists tested.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_02: So that's awesome.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: That's really awesome because and I asked that because I think right now there are a lot of brands that are just kind of relying on the chemists, you know what I mean?
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: They're relying on just like a chemistry team.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I love to see that lines have you know a team that does include MDs on it, you know what I mean?
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: And they really have a professional you know take on what they're doing because I think there's I mean, that's really why I called this podcast Incare Anarchy, because I think there's a you know, the regulation side of it in terms of medicine, there's a huge, you know, for me, a controversy there.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: So that's really good to hear that you guys are doing it right.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you have to.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, EU, if you want to be a global brand too, which we are, you have to be EU compliant.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: And e the EU requires like actual tests that you need to get done, like the HRIPT test, which it's the human repeat patch test to make sure that you're testing it on an actual human being for X days to make sure it doesn't make the skin, you know, go crazy.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so there's that test, and there's like a stability and a compatibility test um and a water activity test.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: So all those are also monitored by you know doctors too, depending on which test you do.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's important to look for brands that are also EU compliant because they usually have taken the second and third necessary steps.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know that.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know it worked like that.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's so basically when you okay, so it sounds like you really knew what you were doing, kind of coming into you know, this whole realm of you know skincare.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: But then where where were your hurdles?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, where what did you feel like you really weren't prepared for, like you didn't know enough about um when you were first launching the line, or even now?
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's I could like this, I could talk about it.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: I literally just like looking out of my book.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, yeah, there's a lot of things.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I have no business background, even though I've a you know, my dad knows business and he's kind of like my advisor and helps me in a way like when I have questions.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like I do this all myself, so I don't have like a business degree.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm a professional writer, you know.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: So while the marketing copy and creating the formulations that comes very natural to me, like actually running a business has been a huge hurdle.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: So all the operations you know that go with Mara are challenging, from ordering the components, making sure everything arrives on the right time, you know, um, supply chain management, making sure that we don't run out of products like we did this time.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like all that stuff is really hard because until you upgrade to a really fancy ERP system, which is a system for inventory management, it's really hard to have a business of the Mara size still on QuickBooks.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: And unfortunately, we're still on QuickBooks.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: So the way I manage inventory is really through Google Docs and Mental and you know, knowing what's where.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: But now that we have um, you know, upwards of seven, eight SKUs, it becomes harder to think like, okay, we've got 10,000 bottles on order of universal face oil, we've got 7,000 left at our facility, we're manufacturing that 7,000, you know, next week.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a lot of that is pretty, pretty challenging.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: You have to have a robust memory or a lot of cash to invest in a fancy system like Net Suite or Sin7.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, so that's challenging.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: And then what else is challenging?
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, all of it the IT realm is huge, though.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: That's a great point that you bring up about IT because I can imagine.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, the database side of things and hiring those teams, yeah, that's that's expensive stuff.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I actually do it all myself.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I have one employee that works on Mara, and then of course I have contract uh, you know, contract independent contractors and contract manufacturers that kind of do the manufacturing, the shipping, all of that stuff.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: But up until like six months ago, we were shipping everything from our office, which is crazy to think about because we're in some pretty big retailers, so we would have to pack up like thousands of units and send it to them and then do did all of our dot-com too.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: So that part, all those growing pains are hard.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you want to make sure that you have a cash as king in this business and you have to pay for a lot of your products up front before they're even sold.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: So you need to make sure that you're managing your accounting correctly.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: So all those businessy things that I had never done before are still a huge um, you know, growing pain for me.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, my my co host Fraheen isn't here today, but I guess she would want to ask you more about the law side of it.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: Did you secure like sponsors or investors before you started your line, or did You just kind of self-fund and see how it goes.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: Mara is a totally self and family funded business.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: So nothing beyond um immediate family that eventually will change.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: We will do a round of, you know, we will pair with an investor at some point.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: We've had some intrigue already, but you know, I want to take this as far as I can because of course, whenever you give up that, you uh you obviously give up a percentage of the business, but you also in a way have someone else who is giving you feedback on what you're creating.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to get out the message that I'm trying to get out as clearly as I can before we bring on anyone else's vision into it.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that makes sense.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: That makes and that's amazing, by the way.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: Great work for fun, you know, self-funding.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, that's a that's a big feat.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's amazing.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: But one thing I want to add on that though is I actually don't get pay myself out of the business yet.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: So that's something that I think is important.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I actually still work, I have two companies.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: I work for A MacNamera Inc., which is my influencer content creation company that does everything from, you know, when I do a I do a sponsored series with NARS, or I'm the brand ambassador for Ollie, or I creating content or writing content for a brand.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, all of that runs through A MacNamera Inc.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I actually work for that company, which gives me the flexibility to hire people and keep creating products without worrying about like my own livelihood.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, you're like Kirk Comain, kind of of the skincare.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it was like sleeping for what I mean.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: Hopefully you don't have to overdose.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: We love you.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: Please.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but um, no, that's amazing to hear though.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, wow.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: So okay, so then you kind of um in terms of just your your work, you're actually still like fully in the job, you know, in the working scene.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: Then I mean that's that's awesome.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I work on Mara full-time, I would say, but then I do all of my influencer work usually on the weekends when I have to create content or whatever that is.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then for you know, stories or brands, I I see oversee a place called Main Addicts, which is Jen Atkins' um editorial site.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: She's the founder of Way, and so I oversee the editorial content for that website.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I work on them with uh on Tuesdays, which is the only day I'm really off on Mara.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but then yeah, I do all the other work on the weekends, so it just never stops.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's I'm I'm so impressed right now.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: That's why you hear me just like, wow.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a lot of work.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: One day I'll I'll get to work for Mara.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's someday soon.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: One day I'll get to work for my own brand.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean obviously I'm not on it full time, but one day I'll pay myself out of Mara.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think it'll be it's a 2021 kind of goal, but we'll see.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I I wish you nothing but the best.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I really do.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: You guys are, I mean, what you're doing is amazing.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's so cool.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's just so cool.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: And honestly, I wanted to say this as as childish as it may sound.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: Your line is the first line that reminds me of like mermaids.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like I was born in '86, so you know what I mean?
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: I grew up with a whole like era of loving mermaids and whatnot.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, I just I love it.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: I love your line because of what it invokes.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think in the end of the day, too, like that was kind of not mermaids per se, but like that kind of like nostalgia, the idea for the blue color, obviously it's inspired by the sea, but yeah, it's also inspired by this perfume that I was obsessed with in the 80s called Navy.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I know I know what you're talking about.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: My dad gave me like this little travel size navy perfume.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: I forget why.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like it probably for him, he probably just gave it to me just because he had extra stuff.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: But um, but I was like obsessed with it.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: It was like this little round, um, like round, almost like ovaly round component, and it was tiny, like a travel size.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: I actually still have it.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that was kind of like the inspiration.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: So, like that 80s kind of navy color with mermaid, like all that was kind of a point of inspo.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was kind of your little your palette, your beginning palette.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, okay, so I have a question, and this is this I think is the most interesting thing to me that I found about your brand.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: You guys have some sort of a um a powder, or I'm guessing it's a beauty supplement.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so how did you how did you transition from like you know, topical skincare to this, you know what I mean?
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: How what was that like process?
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us all about yeah, I told my our like our customers, like surprise, like I have a digestible now.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: It kind of came out of left field.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it actually I I thought of the idea right at the start of COVID when we were all given the stay-at-home order.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I am someone who's always been very into wellness, and I love, I really believe that glowing skin starts from what you eat.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: And what you put in, yeah, glowing skin starts within it's kind of the tagline for the product.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, we can give you all these amazing topical ingredients for your face, but if you're treating your insides like shit, you know, you're not gonna have skin.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: So um I really started with like, okay, what am I drawn to right now?
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: And this is again at the start of COVID, everyone was really focusing on immunity boosting, which um vitamin C is so great for that.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I was taking this like crazy huge vitamin C capsule twice a day.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't like taking capsules, honestly.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: Capsules, I just feel like that's an extra step for your body to do to get the get the ingredients.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I prefer altars, um, honestly.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: But I was taking this vitamin C capsule and I was thinking of the marketing plan for the C vitamin C serum that we were gonna launch in August.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I had to really rethink like, okay, if the stay-at-home order goes through August, which it's October, November, whatever, and it's uh still here.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I was I don't think it's going to be.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: But back in March, I was like, okay, if we're gonna be doing this, how am I gonna launch this product?
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought, like, why don't we take the C vitamin C serum and make it into an ingestible?
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Because it has all of the bones of an amazing wellness product.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: It has vitamin C is the kind of core of it.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: It has moringa, which is amazing for detoxifying the body, 92 nutrients, 46 antioxidants.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's incredible for you.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um it has a beautiful C story like chlorella and spirulina, which are amazing algae that people already take as an ingestible.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: And then it has Reishi and ginseng, which are calming adaptogens that really help balance stress levels.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: So these are anything with ginseng is amazing.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: So all of these were in the C vitamin C serum.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, let's just translate this and make it into an ingestible.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: So started on this journey, you know, it's when you when you've learned to manufacture and create products, I think the process is pretty similar.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: You go through you find a lab that that has your same vision, which is the hardest part, and then you go through rounds of testing and then you produce.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, I did that, you know, it was a new experience doing an ingestible, but I found a place here in California that had my same vision, and so worked with them to create this product, and I love it.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm obsessed.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: I take it every day.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um I need to try it too.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_02: I I saw it and I was like, I need to.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we'll get you that.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: We actually have that in stock, which is great because it's new.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um awesome.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: But it's amazing, you know.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's been really fun to see our consumer, you know, tr try this out.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I there are brands that have done this before us, like goop and moon juice.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't think that we're reinventing the wheel, but I think that this ingestible per se is different than what's out there because it really translates a skincare product into an ingestible.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they echo each other.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that was a new thing.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_02: The thing I want to, I'm not trying to interrupt you, but the thing I find to be so that really drew me to that, right?
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_02: Is I have so I have um some thyroid problems.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: So one of the um products I use is made by this amazing endocrinologist, and her powders and her products are like, you know what I mean?
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like they're very, very organic and stuff.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_02: So it reminded me of a very well-crafted ingestible when I first saw it because the powder form, you know, just looked like something that you really, you know, you like you can't really take everything in a capsule.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I feel like when people put things in a capsule, for me, as just somebody with a science background, I don't, I don't I'm not drawn to it.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not drawn to that because I don't know what's in your capsule.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: And powdered form, I think I have my own reason scientifically, but what I'm trying to say is that there are so many um, you know, doctor established, you know, in brands that are for supplements that prefer that as well.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: So it really drew me to that when I first saw it.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: Then and I figured, you know, I'm sure she's got a whole process behind this.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: So that's amazing.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: And um so you had to go to another lab, then you said, right?
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: So you had to like go to a whole different area.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I vetted maybe like six or seven in the luckily, California is a big, you know, formulation and manufacturing hub.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: So there are a lot of places that you can kind of look around here.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, I couldn't go in person.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: I usually in non-COVID era, I always like to go see the facility before I work with someone.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, this place was a little different because I actually use a custom lab to formulate the Mara skincare, and then I have to find a separate contract manufacturer.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: But for this one, I found a contract manufacturer that also has an in-house formulation team.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so, and they had worked on some products that I was impressed with in the past.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, yeah, I found them and it was totally different than doing the skincare, obviously.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: But in doing the ingestible, like you said, it was important to not have those veggie caps because I read like your science, you do science, and like I read a whole thing that when they opened up a cadiver, they saw all these like veggie capsules that were like undegated in the gut.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like that is disgusting.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's disgusting, right?
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, that's that's exactly what I meant because so yeah, I have a medical background and I've like I know how things digest, and digesting a capsule is like a lot harder than people realize, and especially if they're not using the right, like you know what I mean, the coating for the capsule is basically like plastic sometimes.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like you're just your body is not made to digest that.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that so that was like obviously the reason why we didn't do the capsule.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then I'm not sure if you're like super into wellness, but like when I was making my smoothies, I would put like you know, some ashwagandha or maca or you know, whatever I was feeling that day, and I would put that all together from all these different little jars of different brands that I had purchased, or chlorella or spirulina, and I'm like, why don't we just kind of make this a blend and kind of turn it into that?
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: So that was the idea behind it.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_01: And we're really excited.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: I I want to do another ingestible.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: I've I've had a really fun time with this process, and our customer seems to like it so far.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I so that's that's what I was gonna ask you is what's the feedback has been, you know, since you wanted to.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's been good.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: And the thing with an ingestible, which is something that I find myself struggling with too, when I'm asked to tell people, like, okay, so how is it?
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's like ingestibles take time to work.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're you won't notice like tomorrow, you know, okay.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: I tried this yesterday, is my skin gonna be glowing more?
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, no, the one, it's like you know, digested into the body, goes into the bloodstream.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's then continually giving your bloodstream all these delicious ingredients that ultimately will make your your exterior more healthy looking, right?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly, exactly.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_02: That's a whole yeah.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that I just feel a little bit perkier when I when I have it in the morning because it does have that nice jolt of vitamin C, but no jitteriness, of course.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, like ingestibles are fun.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I've I've now been having this one for when did I get the final batch?
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: I've probably been taking it since June, and I do like I'm pretty consistent with it.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: I probably take it almost every day, maybe five days a week.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: I forget a few days.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I do notice like better skin overall, bouncier skin, glowing skin, and it's only the only thing I really changed.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_02: So that's amazing.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_02: I love that that you were bold enough to kind of expand, you know what I mean?
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like your industry.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's that's I think that that's very, very difficult and it's a challenge to do something where you know you're you're doing something right and then be like, wait a minute, let's just completely do a 180 kind of thing, you know?
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_02: You didn't do a 180, but it's like yeah.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_02: So okay, I have a question for all of our listeners, and I I a lot of our listeners are people who really are into skincare or they want to start their own line or something.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_02: So, like I just want to know if there's anything information you can uh provide about if you have something that you want to get noticed by a big publication or somebody that you know you want to like networking, really, right?
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_02: So, like how did how do you go about networking in this space, like in this specific industry?
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, if you had to like give a small talk or something, what would you say to people?
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's a great question.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: So with any sort of path when it comes to networking, it's not like a one size fits all.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that everyone's unique kind of story is what plays into this.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_01: But for me, because I worked in media before, I did have a direct connection to a lot of editors and influencers.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so that was um, I think that something that really helped Mara in the beginning because I had had these amazing women on my show when I was a host, um, all sorts of different influencers and editors, and I'd met them at events and networking things.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I did have access to that, which was integral to the growth.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: But you don't need that necessarily.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think creating a dialogue with your people on Instagram or on social is an amazing way to get started.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, with you got to feed the beast.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_01: And so these beauty editors are always looking for the next cool thing to feature.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: So they want to like your brand.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think that we forget that, like, yes, you do want to impress them and getting their attention is important, but they need you just as much.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they need to create clicks and have new things to write about.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I think if you think of it as more of a two-way relationship, they're excited, they'll be excited to meet you.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: So don't be scared to reach out.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_01: I think people are scared to reach out, but also don't be annoying.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's like front line, right?
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like I, you know, I've been told no.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: Being told no is a major part of this process.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like you have to be pretty thick skinned.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I get told no all the time, even though our brand is a lot of places.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: I still get told no by different retailers, literally on the daily basis.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to have thick skin, you have to believe in your product.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: You you're gonna be told no.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: We weren't even in like a vogue or an allure for the first year of being out.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_01: It took a while.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like, it's not gonna happen overnight.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: You need to really foster those relationships.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna have to send a lot of free product out.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: That part sucks, and it's definitely a cost hit for you, but it's worth it.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you want to keep your brand top of mind to those editors without being over without oversaturating it.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you don't want to send them too much stuff either.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you don't want it to be end up in like a giveaway or you just yeah, like you don't want like over but you want to keep reminding them of like your brand.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: So if that means you know sending the same editor like three bottles of your, you know, you she loves the universal face oil, but she hasn't featured it yet.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: She requested again, send it to her again.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, don't be like, okay, well, you didn't you didn't write about it because you just never know, maybe there wasn't a fit for it at the time, or maybe her her boss did wanted to include a different product in that same category.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_01: So it's all about kind of mature, you know, really, really massaging these relationships because one day it just clicks, you know.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: I remember wanting to get vogue for so long, and it happened, it actually only happened this year with our cleansing oil, and now we've been in vogue like I think four or five times since then.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow, congratulations.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: We've been out since 2018, so this is our second year, um, full year.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um you guys are still so young though.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's an amazing, amazing accomplishments.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, but just to even give an example, like for our cleansing oil in January, the uh launch feature was by a brand called Elite Daily.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_01: They're an amazing um website, but I really wanted an Allure exclusive launch feature.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like that to me was really gonna show everyone that we are serious, we're here to stay, we're like a serious brand.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: And lo and behold, um Allure did the launch exclusive on the vitamin C product.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: So it just takes time, you know?
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, patience is a virtue, truly.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's amazing, Allison.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_02: So, okay, one more question.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_02: One more question.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_01: What is next for what's next for I mean, so many things.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, right now I think that we're really known for our oils, but we won't stay in the oil category forever.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: So we will be introducing some water-based formulas down the line.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm working on some new products right now, but we have a pretty awesome lineup for 2021.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I can't give too many details, but we will be doing something um new for us, definitely new skincare category.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then I do see us getting more into ingestibles and the body.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: So working on body products um and eventually maybe color cosmetics.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_01: I've always wanted to do um color cosmetics, but that's definitely far down the line.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's so amazing.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, you have quite a lot on your on your book.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love vision boards, but also it's a lot, but simplified.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like we don't launch so many skincare products.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: It really is kind of like your core capsule collection.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I think we'll be represented in like every major act major active category that I feel is really important to skin.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, an AJ or lactic moment will definitely happen for us.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, probably some sort of moisturizer at some point, some sort of acne pro acne-focused heart uh uh product will be on the radar too, like those types of things.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm looking forward to all of that.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm actually looking forward to trying everything you have right now.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna go back and like look at what you've got.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_02: And this is amazing.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_02: This was so lovely to have you on.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for joining us.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I know the listeners really appreciate all of this, like, you know, it's kind of like a look inside of an industry, you know.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's what my goal is with skincare anarchy.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_02: So all the information you gain, thank you for having me.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: And if you guys ever want to ask me like a question or anything, I I'm either me or Katie on my team are managing the socials.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're DMing us, it's a good chance I'm responding.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_01: So 50% chance.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so yeah, but if you say like, hey Allison, I'll make Katie will always uh make sure that I see that one.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_02: So that's awesome.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you again, and congratulations again on all of your accomplishments.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, hopefully, um I'm gonna cross my fingers.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_02: We can have you on again, maybe the next product launches.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if you're at 121, Q1.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_01: So sometime in that realm.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_01: We're still waiting for our components timeline.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I would love that.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_01: This was so fun.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's awesome.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much, Allison, and I will talk to you guys next time.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for listening, you guys.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so excited that we are into season three.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_02: If you've listened to this episode, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed interviewing Allison.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_02: It would mean so much to Farheen and I if you could go onto iTunes or Spotify or any platform that you're listening to us on and just give us a five-star uh rating and maybe a review if you'd like.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_02: It really helps us out and it helps us bring you great content every single episode.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_02: We love you so much and thank you so much for helping us grow skincare anarchy to what it is right now and hopefully much bigger in the future.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_02: Talk to you guys next time.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_02: Hey guys, so I hope you love that episode.
• 41:11
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• 41:16
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• 41:19
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• 42:04
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• 42:11
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• 42:16
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.