We were lucky to catch up with Brittany Lo recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Brittany thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you find your key vendor or vendors? Maybe you can share the backstory and share some context and the relevant details to help us understand why you chose them, why they chose you, etc.
When you are first starting out, finding a manufacturer can be difficult because you are likely going to be one of their smallest clients, so you have to pitch your potential to them. We found our first manufacturer through a family friend of my first employee – lucky break! They took us on with the promise of growth, and now we are able to bring them more business, which is exciting on both ends. If I could go back in time, I wish I knew the importance of owning your own formulas. It’s important to reach out to your network and people who have done this before in your shoes to ask for advice, so you know how to navigate these relationships and negotiate for yourself.
Brittany, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
In second grade, I wrote in my journal that I wanted to create a beauty company. At a young age, I was already searching for ways to ultimately pair my love for beauty with my passion for empowering others to feel comfortable in their own skin — and I wasted no time making my dream a reality. Straight out of college, after turning down an offer from a dream beauty conglomerate, I started my first company called Beautini that provides hair and makeup services for weddings and events.
As a result, I grew Beautini into a multi-million dollar company and ultimately a market research platform to launch Beia, utilizing the thousands of women we have worked with to be a part of our focus groups and give real time feedback every step of the way when building Beia’s brand and products. What we found was women were looking for a skincare brand that addresses intimate concerns so that they can feel comfortable in their own skin. Enter Beia: clean, multipurpose skincare that targets those concerns that affect our confidence, such as sweat, odor, ingrown hairs and rough, bumpy skin.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
“Traction: Get A Grip On Your Business” by Gino Wickman was a transformational book for me and the way I run my businesses. It teaches you how to implement the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) Model into your business, with very specific action items that you can take immediately and continue to use over the lifespan of your company as it grows, scales and evolves. It starts by casting your future vision and ultimate goal, and then teaches you how to work backwards to get there with milestones and continuous, regular check ins to make sure you are always on track. This has helped me achieve and stay on top of my business goals and operate much more efficiently.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
Customer service is the top priority for us as a small brand and we pride ourselves in taking great care of our clients. We try to involve them in the journey of building the brand, so they feel connected to the brand and as if they helped build it right alongside us! We will call up our customers to ask questions about what they want to see next and hold intimate focus groups to make sure we are addressing their most pressing needs. In person events are also an extremely important and valuable way for us to connect with our local community and we host them as often as possible!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beiabeauty.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beiabeauty/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beiabeauty1
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beiabeauty/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bareitallpod
