We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dana Shaked a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dana, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

One thing I can say about my business- there was never an idea or an intention to make it a business, it was an act of a loving mom to her son. My son and I have a chromosome deficiency that limits us in the consumption of lots of ingredients that exist in topical creams, supplements and medications. Ingredients like ascorbic acid, soy and legumes that are great for others, can be life threatening to us and they are in almost everything.
We both also suffered from dermatitis (which is like eczema).
After years of meticulously reading ingredients lists and getting anxious applying skincare products on both of us (my son’s eczema was getting worse and I felt like my skin doesn’t love skincare) I decided that I need to step up and start making our skincare and supplements myself. That way I will know for sure what they contain and use them without any concerns. I studied “master of herbalist” and started making salves and tinctures that were a true success! We got rid of our anemia and our eczema and I decided to keep studying and took another course to become an organic skincare formulator. I started making skincare to solve my friends and family skin concerns and brought some samples to our family medspa (we have a family medical spa for filler and botox injections). The clients started trying the products and came back to buy the big size! I was shocked that someone was willing to pay money for my creations! They recommended the products to their friends in different states and I had to make a website so they could read about the products and the ingredients. From there it was a long story of up and downs, success and failure, a growing instagram page with a loyal and supportive community and so many skin transformation, happy clients and one mission that was completed- to help people like me feel safe using skincare and knowing that the products are going to benefit them. Make them feel comfortable in their own skin.

Dana, 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 got into this industry because my father and step mom opened a medical spa. It was the first time I went to get facials, tried Botox and tried different skincare lines.

I formulate clean, non toxic botanical based skincare with the finest cosmetic grade ingredients for any cause and skin condition. All of my products are safe for every age, skin type and shade and suitable for even the most sensitive skin. I choose my ingredients via the lab reports they have and they must be non irritating and non-toxic.

I also always there to answer questions, assist in any way and sometimes even customize a product for my client’s needs.

Transparency is highly important to me. I share my DANAPAZ community in everything that’s going in the company! The formulation process, the ingredients benefits, and even ask them for help with the decision making when it comes to new products, labels and more. I even launched an affiliate program in which the clients can become ambassadors and make money with the company.

I think that this is what sets me apart from others. I don’t only make and sell clean and safe skincare that help people feel more confident, I also include them in my business. My clients count. They are a part of my business and have the opportunity to grow with me. Their support is noticed and appreciated. They get to be testers to new products, always get a gift with every purchase and they can always reach out to me.

My passion is people, I’m in this business because I’m addicted to make people feel seen, feel important, feel beautiful.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I started this company, DANAPAZ with no money, no bank account or credit card, no fluent English and in the middle of Covid. Shortly after opening the LLC, I applied the company name- originally called “Herbalink” for a trademark. After a year of building the company as Herbalink, sell products, making a website, shipping material and literally EVERYTHING on this name, I got an opposition from another company and I had a choice- quit or starting over. Still with no credit card or money to invest on rebranding. I didn’t sleep for 3 days. I seriously considered to quit, but every time I closed my eyes I saw another client that is using the products and feel happy with their skin and I realized that it’s become so much bigger than me and I must go with the rebranding. I will fond a way and the funds to do this. And thankfully to my family and my beautiful community that supported me all through the way, it happened! We have become DANAPAZ.
I must say that the person that moved me the most was my marketing manager, Ashlee Piga from Lotus Digital, that done all the rebranding with me and keeps being my right hand till this day. She believed in my success and had my back every time I needed.

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

The answer is clear, my community of followers and clients. I always say that we cannot succeed alone. When we are working together, we make a bigger impact.
What is a business without clients? It’s a bankruptcy.

The power of a loyal community is like an army that always have your back. Their story and post shares, their purchases, Google reviews, it’s priceless! I’m very lucky in this aspect 🙏

In addition, and I always feel weird to say this about my products because I made them, the products work! They are super effective, like topical supplements to the skin, and when you have wining products you have returning clients and that’s the golden goal of every business.

Having a good product and a loyal community is really everything a business need to build a reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: Danapazbeauty.com
• Instagram: Danapazbeauty
• Facebook: Danapazbeauty
• Other: Last thing that I didn’t say, we are donating every month to animal rescue and finding homeless pets a loving home. So every purchase from DANAPAZ is also a donation to animal rescue