We recently connected with Keri Bougie and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Keri thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Almost every entrepreneur we know has considered donating a portion of their sales to an organization or cause – how did you make the decision of whether to donate? We’d love to hear the backstory if you’re open to sharing the details.

In developing the SoChok Skinlove company/brand, we felt it was very important to give back. Given this brand is focused on cultivating healthy skincare habits at an earlier age and both my husband & I are passionate about healthy/well-balanced children, we decided to implement a donation program that gives a percentage of all of our SoChok Skinlove sales to support children & family mental-health non-profit organizations. Additionally, both my husband and I have had traumatic life events, my husband is a marriage & family therapist, and we are a blended family . . . so this program not only fit in with the mission of SoChok Skinlove, but this program also spoke to us personally & as a family.

Keri, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have always had a love of the beauty/cosmetic industry since I was young. As I’ve gotten older, with kids of my own, I have researched, experienced, and discovered the importance of self-care, especially skincare from an earlier age. Having had some entrepreneurial experience in taking over my late husband’s restaurant company after his unexpected passing, I was able to garner this experience & courage to develop my own “clean” skincare company – especially focused on kids/tweens/teens.

Now with a blended family and 5 kids altogether, all with different skin needs, I wanted my children to instill healthy skincare and self-care habits at an earlier age. This included using skincare products that were “clean” (no parabens, sulfates, phthalates, gluten, etc.), and products that they themselves wanted to use (that didn’t smell weird to them or that didn’t have harsh chemicals for anti-aging or other mature skin care needs). Additionally, because I am of Korean descent my skin has more pigmentation than that of my husband’s and two of our children (they have fair skin & burn easily). Our 3 other children also have more pigmented skin like myself, and thus darken quite a bit in the summer, but also develop dark spots if the skin becomes damaged or injured. Additionally, with darker toned skin, the skin can more easily appear dull, dry, or ashy, and therefore it is all the more important to keep skin moisturized & protected, to combat against this.

Thus the two main problems that SoChok Skinlove solves is to help kids/tweens/teens to develop healthy skincare habits while promoting self-care, at an earlier age; and to provide skincare product options that kids/tweens/teens will want to use that are especially formulated with darker skin tones in mind.

Any advice for managing a team?

Managing a team can be extremely challenging, especially with different personalities, work-styles, attitudes, etc.

From experience I have found that it is important to be open to and/or to ask for input from those you manage and to carefully consider such input. Providing insight into (deleted word) decision-making and receipt of this input is also important in managing a team . . . understanding the “why” is just as important as completing the tasks at hand. Receiving & discussing employee input also helps employees to feel that their contributions are meaningful and that they are valued as an employee. I also believe that properly training/teaching employees, then allowing them the latitude to be self-directed & empowered, helps a team be better managed while also increasing overall employee morale.

There are several other contributing factors I believe are essential to maintaining high morale. One factor is to provide positive feedback and goals for improvement to all of your employees. Recognition of an employee’s positive job performance goes a long way in motivating employees. I also believe that casting a positive, growth oriented vision for the future helps to maintain high morale – both for individual employees, as well as for the company as a whole. If your team is excited about the future and the opportunities that lie ahead for themselves and for the company they work for, their morale increases with the future of possibilities.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I think brand loyalty is gained by providing quality products with a service-oriented accompaniment. Making the products and the clients feel the quality and uniqueness of your brand is done by making the entire experience feel special.

For SoChok Skinlove this includes providing beautiful packaging that gets customers excited about receiving their packages – feeling like it is a specially wrapped gift, with bright happy-feeling colors. This also includes exceeding expectations – making sure that ordered products get out for delivery as soon as possible, waiving shipping fees when possible, and including an extra thank you note or personal note in the packages.

The above-and-beyond client service & the little touches of detail make all the difference in creating brand loyalty.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sochokskinlove.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sochokskinlove/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070593200827
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keri-bougie-bab5711/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sochokskinlove

Image Credits
Jessica Napier – Napier Photography