We recently connected with Hannah Duncan and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Hannah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I have a million stories! But mostly it is all about STARTING. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Learn to pivot. You don’t know what you don’t know. Once you start everything will start to unfold.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I have had several jobs in my adult life. One of the more interesting is that I worked as the Marketing and Promotions Director for 20 Radio stations. I also ran several night clubs for 9 years. But one day I grew out of it and realized that I needed to have a more grown up career. I knew I was good at Marketing so I started my own Business.

One year into this business I heard about a guy who made this eyelash growth product for his wife and friends. I knew of him and always saw him at the same coffee show on Sunday mornings. So then next week I approached him and told him that I could make it into a retail product for him. The product is called Revitalash – launched out of my living room in 2006 and now in over 70 Countries.

After 6 years I started my own Distribution Company for brands that I thought were interesting for the space – but didn’t really know what to do next. We specialized in retail for Spas and hotels, as well as Prestige Retail. In seven years we launched brands like GlamGlow, Marula Oil, Smileactives, and many others. We also launched the retail side of brands such as Sparitual, Kaplan MD, and Luminess.

In 2018, when Indie Brands were all the rage, all the giant conglomerates such as Estee Lauder, LVMH, and Loreal bought all the brands – meaning –  I lost the contracts. My business had to close.

At the same time, CBD started becoming a conversation and I knew no one, at that time, was “doing it right” for the professional and prestige market. So I launched my own brand – WELL PRODUCTS. Within three years I was registered in 29 Countries. To this day, I am the only CBD Body and skin brand allowed to sell outside of the United States.

At the same time I started WELL Products, I launched Founders Factory. People have always asked  me to speak at events, or help them with projects, so I perform all of these projects under the Founders Factory umbrella. I help brands create products out of their niche, help brands come into America, and help build out Ambassador teams for them across the United States.

My next project is the Beauty Brand Academy, an online course that teaches people how to launch their own brand. I take all of the lessons I have learned, all the mistakes I have made, and all of the information in brain and have dumped it all into these step by step lessons. I can’t wait to see what people do with it!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Perseverance and knowing that I do not know everything.   When I launched Revitalash in 2006 I had no idea what I was doing! I had never been part of the beauty industry before. So when I entered, I had no idea of the correct decorum, or “how things are done.” I just did them my way – the only way I knew how. I also told most people, who asked, that I had no idea what I was doing. I asked for help from EVERYONE along the way. Soaked it all in, and then made decisions the best way I could. Because of this, and because I wasn’t concerned about what people would say if I made mistakes – I just kept going. Things kept happening for me, much faster than for anyone else.

I made lots of mistakes along the way, but because I was humble and asked for help, and because I was honest about it – people were endeared to me. They wanted to help me. And they were very patient and forgiving with me.

I also do not take myself too seriously.  I am always happy and joking around. This makes people comfortable around me and more open to working with me.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

In June 2018 I thought that I wanted to distribute a CBD brand, not create my own! But fortunately, or unfortunately, that dream was gone after meeting up with too many men who told me I had no business being in the Cannabis business. So I decided to start my own brand instead!

My friend, Lisa from Live Love Spa, had also decided that she was going to launch National Wellness Month for the first time that August. Lisa always does AMAZING things with Marketing, so I thought – this is my chance to jump on HER train and introduce my brand – in only SIX WEEKS! Crazy right?  But I worked day and night and did it.

While trying to come up with a name, I was talking to my friend, Kristina. I was telling her that I wanted to think of a good name for this new wellness product. I told her I wanted one word and it should be simple. She says – why don’t you just call it WELL? (done!)

So six weeks after deciding to create my own brand – I launched.

A few months later I was driving seven hours to a very important B2B trade show. I had heard there would be a few other CBD brands at this show and so I knew I had to think of how to differentiate myself in a very tangible way. I know! They need holiday sets!

So for the next several hours, on a road trip to Arizona,  I thought about what would go in it and how I would get what I needed to create a holiday set in time for this trade show. I decided on a lavender, himalayan salt bath soak. I went to Michaels and got the gift box, the bag for the salt, and some holiday crinkle paper. I went to Whole Foods and bought 7 jars of himalayan salt, and then I got to the Airbnb and created a sleeve for my box and a label for my bag of salt. I put it all together, presented it, and sold a thousand units at the trade show the next day!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hannahmurrayduncan.com
• Instagram: @hannahmurrayduncan
• Facebook: @hannahmurrayduncan
• Linkedin: @hannahmurrayduncan
• Twitter: @hannahjoyduncan
• TikTok: @hannahmurrayduncan

Image Credits
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