Podcast Summary
From stay-at-home mom to successful business owner: Tiffany Masterson's inspiring journey in skincare: Passion, hard work, and a clear vision can lead to remarkable business success, even without formal training or experience. Tiffany Masterson launched Drunk Elephant at age 40, becoming the top seller in Sephora with her commitment to clean skincare and avoiding harmful ingredients.
Determination and a passion for a cause can lead to remarkable success, even without formal training or business experience. Tiffany Masterson, the founder of Drunk Elephant, embodies this idea. At the age of 40 and as a stay-at-home mom of four, she discovered a passion for skincare and became obsessed with understanding the effects of every ingredient on the skin. With no formal training or business background, she worked tirelessly to develop her first line of products and launched Drunk Elephant in 2013. In just six years, her brand became the top seller in Sephora stores across the country. What sets Tiffany apart is her dedication to researching the toxicity levels of ingredients and avoiding potentially harmful ones. She learned this lesson the hard way when she used an avocado oil that caused her to break out due to essential oils in the ingredient list. This experience fueled her commitment to creating a clean skincare brand, and her perseverance paid off. This inspiring story from How I Built This with Guy Raz serves as a reminder that with passion, hard work, and a clear vision, anyone can build a successful business. Listen to the full episode on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts to learn more about Tiffany's journey and the lessons she learned along the way.
The Essentialist Approach to Starting a Skincare Line: Starting a skincare line with an essentialist approach involves controlling every ingredient, offering a complete solution, and eliminating the need for additional purchases by creating a line with a cleanser, vitamin C, sunscreen, and toner.
The founder of a skincare line started her journey by being essentialist, meaning she wanted to control every ingredient in her products and offer a complete solution without the need for additional purchases. This research phase involved learning various names of essential oils and understanding their uses. She aimed to create a line with a cleanser, vitamin C, sunscreen, and toner, all formulated with her chosen ingredients. To keep track of her research and progress, she used a spreadsheet on her computer. Her goal was to provide a comprehensive skincare solution, addressing multiple concerns and eliminating the need for multiple products. This essentialist approach allowed her to be in control of the ingredients and ensure their suitability for all skin types.
Experience and necessity can lead to new skills: Passion and persistence can help us learn new skills, even if they seemed challenging or unenjoyable earlier in life. Necessity and real-life challenges can also be powerful motivators for skill development.
Experience and real-life challenges can help develop skills that may not have been apparent or fully utilized earlier in life. The speaker shares how they didn't enjoy working with numbers or spreadsheets, but when they became passionate about a project, they were able to learn and excel in using these tools. They also reflect on how raising children required a high level of organization and planning, which likely contributed to their ability to approach projects methodically. The speaker acknowledges that they didn't think they had the skills to raise children, but ended up developing them through necessity. In the context of the discussion about creating a spreadsheet for ingredient analysis, the speaker lists out the ingredients, categorizes them based on their function for the skin, and reflects on how their consumer perspective informs their approach. Overall, this conversation highlights the importance of persistence, passion, and experience in learning new skills and tackling complex projects.
Unnecessary Ingredients in Skincare: Some skincare ingredients serve no essential function and may be added for cosmetic reasons, while others are necessary for safety and efficacy. Essential oils offer benefits but can cause irritation, and alternatives like marula oil can provide similar benefits without the potential downsides.
Not all ingredients in skincare products serve essential functions. Some ingredients are added for cosmetic reasons, such as dyes, fragrances, and silicones, which may not necessarily benefit the skin or the product's performance. Other ingredients, like preservatives and stabilizers, are necessary for the product's safety and efficacy. Essential oils are a controversial category, as they have both benefits and drawbacks. While they can provide desirable fragrances and antioxidant properties, they can also cause irritation and allergic reactions. The speaker expressed a desire to create skincare products using only necessary ingredients, allowing the formulation to shine without unnecessary additives. Marula oil, for instance, is an example of a plant oil that offers similar benefits to essential oils, such as antioxidant properties, but without the potential irritation. Introducing new oils like marula could provide consumers with effective and minimal skincare options.
Discovering the Power of Marula Oil and Naming the Brand Drunk Elephant: Tiffany Masterson named her skincare brand Drunk Elephant after being inspired by the idea of elephants getting 'drunk' from eating fermented Marula fruits, making Marula oil the key ingredient for her moisturizer and differentiating her brand in the market.
The founder of Drunk Elephant, Tiffany Masterson, discovered Marula oil and decided to use it as the anchor ingredient for her skincare line due to its excellent absorbability. She struggled to come up with a name for her brand and was inspired by the idea of elephants getting "drunk" from eating fermented Marula fruits. The quirky name caught some friends off guard, but ultimately, she felt it represented her personality well. Marula oil became the key ingredient for Drunk Elephant's moisturizer, and its unique name helped differentiate the brand in the market.
The Importance of Carefully Considering a Business Name: Choosing the right name for a business or product can significantly impact its perception and success. Consider potential reactions before launching.
The name of a business or product can be a significant source of controversy and can greatly impact its perception in the market. The speaker in this discussion shared her experience with the naming of her own beauty product line, "Drunk Elephant," which faced criticism from various family members and industry professionals. She even considered conducting a focus group to gather feedback but ultimately decided against it due to the anticipated negative response and high cost. The speaker also shared that a consultant she had hired to help with branding expressed disinterest in the name. These experiences underscore the importance of carefully considering the name and potential reactions before launching a product or business. It's a reminder that even small details, like a name, can have a big impact on the success of an enterprise.
