The Raw Juice Mask Trend

Speaker 1: because we all have hesitancies my first product line the raw juice masks my co-founder he was doubtful about it but I was saying we have to do it I trust myself I know I can do it trusting my judgment was correct because now it's a best-selling line and in all these retailers so I think the affirmation from our community from our buyers continues to give me confidence is that my God is right I'm Melanie bar welcome back to the Sheil it podcast your go-to place to empower you to live the life and business that you crave I'm here to talk about everything from Having the courage to make life and career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively create successful teams Implement strategies for growth and Infuse Tech Innovation I'm here to celebrate your wins and navigate through your challenges I live in the city now but I grew up in a town of a, people I've navigated major life leaps a senior level corporate career worked in professional sports and now as a successful entrepreneur who loves business technology family and making meaningful connections with you and the Sheil it Community I also love a good workout and dose of self-care magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy so turn up the audio open your favorite Notes app grab your favorite drink and here we go welcome to the Sheila podcast thank you for joining us Elina your health Journey sparked a shift in your lifestyle and career what was the moment when you knew esw had to exist it starts from skincare so I've always been a skincare girly and my entire career started when I was 16 I was working for my family business who did K Beauty distribution so Korean beauty we all know the products and the trends and I fell in love with all skincare especially she masks I was trying all different products and Sheet masks and I knew that this had to be the product line that I was launching I can make something better Innovative fun and clean and along the way I was struggling with stomach ulcers it was a really intense Journey but I decided to have a reset in my diet and I fell in love with bfree beverages raw juices and plant-based milk and smoothies they were healing they were really great to have on the side and I thought it'd be great concept to combine the two together and that's how the raw juice sheet masks was born in 2019 that's so smart because we always are looking for ways to be more healthy as it relates to the food that we put into our bodies what we're putting on our skin and I can see this smoothie in your marketing yes our smoothie lip treatments they are amazing such a hit and I created this line because I was thinking if smoothies are so nourishing and hydrating for your body it completely makes sense to represent the experience and feeling of the lip treatments nourishing and hydrating on your lips and so we just launched our three new ones the berry kisses line but we have six amazing ones from a guava mango to a cherry tart vanilla almond butter I'm very excited for those I love your packaging it's all so fun thank you packaging was very important because I'm a big packaging gir I love branding and when you see a product the very first thing is design the packaging and of course the formula is even more important that's really where you connect with your community with your consumers and when they decide if they want to come back and use your products again your packaging makes you want to know what it is you know it Sparks that Curiosity absolutely one of our masks the Pink Dream from a mile away in a store it looks like a cute little juice bottle and then you come in and you see oh there's watermelon rose water and grape for extracts and it's great for moisturizing the skin it's a very easy product to pick up $4.99 retail and you try it how did you balance staying true to clean beauty while also creating fun products in a competitive market they don't compete with each other you can absolutely do both a lot of the fun and edginess of the brand comes from packaging and I think that really attracts people and tells the story and of course A lot of it comes from all the other things we do in support like events and social media but the core pillar is to always have a clean formula so we abide by the Whole Foods Body Care standard our products are all vegan crueltyfree and made with a sustainable packaging you combine skin care and nutrition what's one surprising way food and Beauty are more connected than we realize the ingredients you can have for example our green reset kale spinach broccoli and apple in a juice and you can have the same and they have great benefits for them together make up our green Resa anti-aging raw juice mask and I think that having both is a big Trend in the industry we see a lot of Brands doing it because it completely makes sense they both align and it gives a very experiential feeling when using the products I love it you think about drinking a smoothie but we don't think about how the benefits it can be if you actually put it on your skin yeah and the products experience truly does resemble what it says so like the Smoothie lip treatment hydrating your lips or a hydrating avocado banana milk plant-based milk mask that you think of it as a really nice blend a very thick creamy milk and it is a creamy thick formula that truly does nourish your skin launching a beauty brand is one thing but getting into 12200 Target stores is another what was the hardest part of scaling from the Indie Beauty to a major retailer and I remember I was so excited to see your products I travel back to St Louis and they were in Von Mau too I love the brand and I think stores love the brand because it's so versatile it can be everywhere from a fashion retailer to a grocery store to a Target but scaling was definitely not easy from the very beginning I knew I wanted to be a brand that you see in your everyday retailer that was something I had my heart and eyes set on so I did create the company with the logistics supply chain in mind but Target was a retailer we have already been working towards for 3 years so we pitched them multiple times and they finally took us and we're so excited to launch in 2024 it's consistently being on top of your Logistics your operations we hired a couple more people to help fulfill and really had a strong sop for the warehouse but every day we have a set of challenges with scaling when you think okay I have something down there's something new that comes up I love challenges and I'm a Problem Solver so hopefully nothing stumps me too much in the future you've done an amazing job I've seen you in Target and then I've also seen you in vonmar those are two very different stores yes so it's fun to see how you've been able to cross those locations definitely and I think it comes from our brand being able to sit anywhere you can see it in a cash wrap you can see it in a mask wall they're easy price points they're for everyone all age ranges all genders and you can do them as a part of your daily skincare routine they're a lifestyle product you can do it during a self care session with a significant other I use my products my sheet masks with my boyfriend and it's always fun to do it together but I think that's why it can cross all retailers and be a part of multiple categories of stores you mentioned leadership and overcoming challenges what do you think is the most important element of leadership when scaling a business like you have it's having good people I was just talking to another founder a lot of it is of course the interview process but you get lucky and I've been very lucky to have a very good team people who are very smart creative hardworking I think it comes down to really listening to them because everyone comes from all walks of life they see different things I always listen but at the same time having your gut feeling listening to yourself and having a sharp judgment as well not being afraid to say no I definitely know what I'm doing but also at the same time balance B in that with let me listen to your feedback and explore your ideas but I think there's a lot to it I think leadership can be a whole five hour segment other things like implementing very clear sop so standard operating procedures making sure everyone knows what they're doing and seeing how people like to be managed some people need to be more micromanaged because they may be newer don't have much work experience but you also have some people who are managers coming in in and you have to know how to work with them and their style it's a balance of listening trusting your gut having your own judgment and getting lucky with good people yeah the Sops are so important and I think trusting your gut is like a muscle I think you get better at it over time yeah it really is it takes time to really trust yourself because we all have hesitancies my first product line the raw juice masks my co-founder he was doubtful about it but I was saying we have to do it I trust myself I know I can do it 5% of me was a little hesitant but I think trusting my judgment was correct because now it's a best-selling line and in all these retailers so I think the affirmation from our community from our buyers and really just seeing how our products are wi they love continues to give me confidence that my gut is right what do you focus on when building your teams and sustainable company cultures I think when I'm hiring I focus on creativity I focus on having people who are self-starters we are a smaller team I started day one with just one graphic design intern today we have expanded to 18 but still a relatively small team and I think it's important for people to be able to work in an environment where they can be all hands on deck and they need to do multiple things at one time that's the type of people I'm looking for I'm looking for someone who can think five different ways and do five different types of tasks work ethic is very important if you need something needs to get done you need to get it done that's interesting when you said different tasks because I was just sitting here thinking your business is so fun because you can blend the leadership and operation side with the fun and creative side yeah definitely there are two separate things for sure we're fun brand young team but when work needs to get done all hands on deck and you need to get it done but of course we don't ever forget to have the fun we love to bond together we're always doing events together and we have a good time on video calls when you have to be professional and diligent that's priority that's number one what's next for you in your business this is the year of product we have multiple product lines launching in April we have a really fun mocktail biocellulose mask line launching so I'm very excited about that biocellulose is a gel like Fabric and it is made from coconut meat in may we have a really fun skincare product a bottled skincare product launching and the rest of the year we have multiple product lines so year of product I think year of collaborations I love collaboration over competition so we are working with multiple Brands including a licensing project with another beverage brand we have other collabs with different cpg brands in a adjacent category and I think that's really what we're doing ongoing of course always partnering with different retailers and just listening to our community and see what they're looking for so smart and so fun to do those collaborations I can't wait to see your new product so fun I'm excited to launch them magic happens when we focus on the part of our business and ourself that brings us joy we talked a lot about business today what do you do that brings you Joy I love spending quality time with the people that I love so friends my boyfriend and family I think having real conversations and having a group of people that support you is important as an entrepreneur because it's a very lonely process more so than people think but outside of that I love Fitness I love doing Pilates and going to the gym that's a big thing I love music I love music festivals so I have love the EDM world that's a big thing I always do with my friends travel is Big too I think seeing the world and learning different cultures that's a big thing for me and of course just trying different beauty products I love raming the aisles of Sephora and Ulta and Target and seeing what's new and what's next but having good people around you and spending time with them is most important yeah I love all the roaming the aisles too it's so fun to see all the different products and when you have challenges come up it's so important like you said to surround yourself with people that you can go to to talk through those challenges yeah absolutely thank you so much for joining us today I can't wait to see your new products that are coming out share with us how and where we can find you you can find us at esw be.com but we are also in stores like Target Whole Foods Market Urban Outfitters and more and you can find us on social media at es. Beauty and myself at elen Sophia wi thank you for joining us today I'd love to hear from you reach out to me at hello Sheil it.com on our Sheed website or at Sheed on social thank you to my editor Rich draino who always makes us sound good until next time let nothing stop you from experiencing the life and business that you crave