For 25 years, Stephanie White had been a top international marketing and branding executive and consultant for the biggest names in fragrance and skin care, including the Estée Lauder Companies, Tommy Hilfiger, Aramis and The Body Shop.
Working in Australia, London, Paris, New York and now Los Angeles, Stephanie's expertise as a business and brand strategist contributed to the success of numerous people, products and companies.
After years of success in the beauty industry, Stephanie chose to combine her passion for products and her passion for people into become. She is now realizing her dream of offering a luxury product line that is not only effective and affordable, but also offers a fabulous business opportunity to women everywhere.
Her company passed $1 million in sales in its second year – almost a year ahead of projections – and asserts itself as the number one direct-marketed start-up in the United States.
ExpatWomen's Interview With Stephanie
ExpatWomen:Stephanie, what an amazing couple of years you have had. Did you ever imagine that you would be so successful, so quickly?
Stephanie:Yes, I absolutely imagined it! However, turning that very clear dream into a reality has been a lot of fun and hard work. Achieving our success has not been single-handed; I have a wonderful field force who share their enthusiasm about become every day – and that enthusiasm is contagious.
ExpatWomen: Many women dream of starting their own beauty product line. Few actually do it. What drove you to take the plunge?
Stephanie: As a professional in the international beauty and skin care industries, I talked to hundreds of women about what they wanted from their skin care. One of the things that got driven home over and again was the concept of access – or lack of it. Over the course of all these conversations, what became abundantly clear was that unless a woman lived in one of the top 15 or so markets in either the US, Australia or Europe, she would have little or no access to top-quality, luxury skin care. After all – who would buy a $300 skin cream without being able to touch it, smell it or try it? Even if the product could be ordered by telephone or online, how many women would actually take that risk with an expensive cream?
The only products to which they could have direct access were mass-market or drugstore brands. These can be good for what they are, but tend not to have the high-quality natural and cosmeceutical ingredients found in the top luxury brands. So I wanted to start a company that could grow worldwide, that could offer easily-accessible products, able to be sampled prior to purchase.
ExpatWomen:What learnings did you take from your experience in the beauty industry, into your new business?
Stephanie: I learned that most women want a skin care regimen that is simple, efficient, luxurious and effective, yet many – or even most – brands do not deliver on the inflated claims they make. Another major point: many or most women also lose access because of the inflated price of luxury creams; it is only a very small percentage of consumers who can afford creams in the $200-$500 range. So, I wanted to develop top-quality skin care products at a reasonable cost. The question for me was, how to distribute it to the market at a better-than-retail price?
ExpatWomen:So how did you solve the issue of distribution?
Stephanie:Living in Los Angeles, about to get married and try for a baby, I started taking more notice of women wrestling with the dilemma of being a working mom vs. being a stay-at-home mom, or friends who were struggling to make ends meet as the US economy was beginning to spiral downward. I kept thinking, "How do people do it? How do women find a way to take care of business both at home and at work? How do you earn a living without short-changing your family and yourself?"
I then remembered how years ago, I visited the company headquarters of a direct-marketed cosmetic brand in the US and was impressed by both the quality of the product and the opportunity that the brand offered for women to generate incomes for themselves – sometimes huge incomes – while maintaining a balance in their work/family life.
That was it! I could distribute the product at a better-than-retail price, plus give women an opportunity to stay at home with a baby and yet earn a living at the same time.
ExpatWomen:What obstacles have you faced since you started and how did you overcome them?
Stephanie: Not enough hours in the day! I need to remember when to say "enough for today" and to spend time with my family and friends. Striking that balance with work and play when you have a busy business can be challenging.
ExpatWomen:If you could go back in time, what would you have done differently in your business in the last two years?
Stephanie: Nothing! And I mean that. For me there is no such thing as failure, only feedback. We learn every day from what we do and the people around us. I am blessed to have such a phenomenal group of women to go to work with every day.
ExpatWomen:Stephanie, thank you very much for your time and congratulations again on the inspirational success ofbecometo date.
