We recently connected with Elena Marques and have shared our conversation below.
Elena, appreciate you joining us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you as a business owner?
In my early twenties, I spent my newly licensed days working in salons. However, when I went to working for skincare brands in retail, my beauty industry trajectory really changed. Working for high end and dermatology skincare brands for years prior to starting Beladoce taught me so much. Especially seeing what clients really need and are looking for with their products firsthand, and where there are gaps are. As a dermatology brand specialist in sales, it really highlighted how intimate skincare truly is even on a retail level… how much a person’s confidence can be affected by skin issues, and how amazing it felt to be part of their transformation in loving their skin. Product education and trainings for employees and clients became my favorite part. Deep diving into how ingredients like retinol and vitamin c work in skincare, how cosmetic formulas work, and so much more. Working in product education taught me how much I love the science of skincare ingredients, how they work in our skin, formulating in ways to target issues and boost ingredient efficacy with other ingredients.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Beladoce Botanicals was born and came to life as a culmination of skincare experience and artistic expression… to bring art and sensorial bliss to routine beauty rituals, with effective plants backed by western science and Indigenous knowledge. Clean, botanical skincare with beautiful presentation, formulated with powerful but gentle plants that enhance each other’s benefits. It’s a firm belief that pure and clean skincare that’s effective and luxurious, can also be highly conscious and ethical without exploitation in the supply chain. I believe all deserve to feel comfortable in our skin without being sold any extra insecurities with conscious products that do no harm to the areas our products come from.
We work with other latino and Brazilian owned small businesses to ensure money is going back into the Amazon communities that our ingredients come from. We also donate a portion of all proceeds monthly to Indigenous, multi-tribally backed and led Amazon defense and preservation organizations that work on site to protect the Amazon rainforest with environmental monitoring like soil and water testing, and defending against illegal logging in protected areas.
All products are small batch and handcrafted with intention. Always clean ingredients, always ethically sourced. I have worked as a licensed professional for 15 years in all aspects of the industry including product education, and I don’t believe in selling insecurities. Its about the intimacy of taking care of your skin, the act of self love, finding joy in self care. Formulated with sensitive skin in mind, made to elevate your beauty and self care rituals.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Instagram was definitely the beginning of people discovering Beladoce, growing my reach and making new connections that helped me grow. There is so much mixed advice out there on how to grow on social media, rapidly changing algorithims and trends, but I found my success in consistent authenticity. When you build an authentic brand, it makes it so much easier to build real relationships with not only other small businesses in the community, but with long term clients too. I am so grateful for my long term customers that have stood by my business through many ups and downs. I would not have been able to reopen post pandemic after closing down without them. My advice to people starting to build, is to remember that its a marathon not a sprint, and that viral videos don’t always equate to sales, short or long term… but building authentic relationships with clients do. Don’t focus on the numbers, focus on building community and customer relationships and the numbers will follow. Having a brand is more than a logo and a color scheme, it’s how you show up, how you authentically engage, your values, your purpose, so don’t get hyperfocused on your instagram numbers or let it overwhelm you.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Word of mouth and social media sharing absolutely helped my visibility. I am so grateful for how many people have shared stories and photos, recommending my products to family and friends, that built the foundation my business stands on. Things took off on a much larger scale for me, when Shoplatinx still had an online market, and I was one of the original set of brands promoted and sold. I am forever grateful for them and the platform they’ve created. They put my products on a much larger stage that led to a lot of press and sales, that became long term clients even after the online market was gone.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beladocebotanicals.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/shop_beladoce
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@shop_beladoce
- Other: tiktok:
@shop_beladoce pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/shop_beladoce/threads:
https://www.threads.net/@shop_beladoceBlog:
https://beladocebotanicals.com/blogs/news
Image Credits
Elena Marques
Beladoce Botanicals