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

Hi Lana , thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?

Like most things that I get passionate about, it starts with a problem that I have solved for myself. This new innovation was no exception. In my late 40’s I recognised a change in the quality of my intimacy with my husband. I spoke to my Gynecologist about it and she informed me that as women get older, their vulva/vaginal tissue gets thinner, blood flow decreases and so you can lose sensitivity as well as eventually get drier. She had recommended a device she was getting into her office. I scheduled the appointment excited to have this problem fixed. We already had the CO2Lift Carboxy for face and body which works very similar to energy based devices (EBD).: EBD does controlled damage to the tissue to trigger a healing response. Well the CO2Lift Carboxy does the same thing without damage to the skin. The packets, when mixed together, create carbon dioxide. CO2 gas enters the tissue. After the painless gel is applied, it reduces the skin pH. This lower pH weakens the bonding of O2 to hemoglobin leading to hemoglobin oxygen release ,microcirculation vasodilation with increased peripheral blood flow. CO2 causes a decrease in oxygen consumption and shift in the oxygen dissociation curve, known as the Bohr effect, which decreases the affinity of hemoglobin toward oxygen resulting in highly oxygenated tissue.

Based on what my GYN said was the problem, I saw that this could be a solution that is painless, hormone free and can be done in the privacy of your home. I approached one of my advisory board members who was a cosmetic gynecologist to discuss my idea. He said this makes perfect sense, that injectable carboxy was being used for vaginal rejuvenation for over 50 years and suggested we do a pilot study for proof of concept, safety and efficacy. We decided to do a double blind study, which means that the patient is not sure if she is using the technology or the placebo, also the investigator is blind. We did standardized sexual function questionnaires which showed that all the women that used the placebo showed no change in sexual function…all the women that used the CO2Lift technology showed significant changes in all areas. Then we did biopsies, which showed the thickening of the epithelium after only ten treatments. I was very excited by these results and tried it not only for myself, which after the treatments I forgot how good sex was. The feedback from my mom and aunts who were in the late 60’s and early 70’s who went from sandpaper to butter!
This was great news! So we then had to decide on packaging and the big thing was deciding on the applicator. We did a focus group of women to get their feedback . Then we launched, CO2LiftV!

I am so proud to be able to have the first vulva/vaginal carboxy gel that has since helped thousands of women to improve their relationship with themselves as well as their partner. We are saving relationships , one vagina at a time!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My educational background is in accounting and finance. After working in that field for a few years, I went back to school to study Nutrition. Then my husband and I opened up several weightloss clinics. This was something that brought me so much satisfaction, helping people to achieve their ideal weight and body fat. I observed that they became better , more confident, nicer people! We had thousands of happy customers! We were able to achieve this using very different and unique technology at the time. The market changed and we decided to close the offices and go virtual with just having one office inside of a spa that we opened. This seemed like a natural transition, since after our clients released the weight, they wanted to start taking better care of their skin. I wanted to have something unique and different to help our customers, just like we had a unique solution for weightloss. This led us to carboxytherapy. A natural, safe and effective way to regenerate the skin. We discovered a new way to deliver the CO2 that was developed in Japan, which we have the exclusive rights to that technology. We launched The CO2Lift Carboxy brand in 2016. Our first year, CO2Lift was only available through Premier Skin Care Professionals. Then we launched a modified formulation direct to consumers through our website co2lift.com. In 2017 we launched the Carboxy mousse moisturizer which helps with a daily dose of CO2 into the skin with 46 kinds of plant extracts, 3 types of Vitamin C and Linoleic acid as well as 10 active beauty components. Then with my own needs with intimate skin, we developed the CO2LiftV, the first carboxy gel that restores the youthfulness and functionality of the vulva and vagina. I am so proud to have a quick, fast, simple, easy solution to regenerate tissue for skin. Not only facial skin, but the neck, the body and very importantly for vulva/vaginal skin. Today we want solutions that are non-invasive, natural, safe, painless yet powerful in aesthetic and functional health. With the development of technology we are achieving this goal for people. One of the biggest challenges we faced with the CO2Lift was how versatile it is, it can be applied on the skin for simply glowing, hydrated skin for an event ; to preparing the skin for a procedure to help get a better procedure; to using it post procedure to significantly shorten recovery time, and getting a better result. It can close a non-healing diabetic ulcer very quickly; its helping customers with severe dryness of skin, who suffer from eczema to helping with with rosacea; helps men to improve their SHIM score by an average of 5 points with Erectile Dysfunction; to helping a woman restore sexual function and increase desire and pleasure. We were challenged with what we focus on first. What problems should we direct customers to first. How can one technology do so many things?! Well if the solution addresses the root cause of a problem, then yes it will be able to help various problems. I feel very blessed to be apart of this. Our brand is about being better, because when you feel better you are better. Today, we are used to drive throughs that can deliver what we need quickly. Often we associate quick results with something that’s not so healthy…well we have a quick result that is safe and great for you!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

We were very thoughtful and deliberate about how we wanted to launch into the market. The skincare market is such a competitive space. We were seeing so many celebrities start a brand with claims that we did not see the support in science, or were similar products to what was already on the market, so being strategic was very important. Also the cosmeceutical market is not regulated, so we wanted to make sure that our customers knew that we had integrity and proven science to back up our claims. We decided that to build a great reputation, we need to invest in clinical studies. By doing this we can separate ourselves from the mass of products. We wanted our potential customers to see that we were different, solving needs in a new way that was better, faster than was there before. We contracted with reputable dermatologists to investigate the CO2lift. We have spent much time and resources to do this, which have been published in well respected peer reviewed journals. We also shared the product first with Key Opinion Leaders in dermatology to get their buy in on the benefits to their patients. Our introduction into the market was at Premier Dermatology Conferences where from the podium , physicians would educate their peers about this new category in skincare. We felt that by getting the endorsement from the leaders in this space it would help our brand.

Another thing was the team that we worked with. It was important for us that everyone on our team, from the people in the packing and distribution department to our sales force, had to have the same value system particularly where customer service was concerned. We have been fortunate to attract dynamic individuals who care about what they do and how our customers feel. So all our outreach and communication had to be aligned. Everyone who works with us has to see and feel the benefits of the CO2Lift. So everybody on our team loves and uses the product.

Lastly, we strive to keep improving in every way to give the best products at the best price with the best service! I think if we continue to do that we will be able to leave a great mark for our customers!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Starting a skincare company in the way we wanted our brand positioned, with clinical studies, products for Premier physicians to try, etc was going to cost quite a bit of money. Also we decided early on that we wanted to have the say in our brand direction, and that could only happen if we were the primary investors. So we bet on ourselves. We used our savings, and sold investments and got some help from friends. My husband and I did as much of the roles as we could to reduce our costs. For instance initially, I served as our customer support. I would use my middle name to be the person answering the phone and if they needed it escalated I would then bring “Lana” on the phone. We would hire temps in the beginning to be able to get the help we needed without the large cost of adding employees. We worked with contractors to get the services we wanted as well we used our home and garage to save on office space. Also used our credit cards to help fund our costs. It was important to make sure we were building credit, so that we could be able to increase our credit line. It was definitely challenging in the beginning, but I am glad we did it this way versus giving away a large amount of equity in exchange for funding.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.co2lift.com
• Instagram: @co2lift, @co2liftv, @thelanakerr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/co2lift
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lana-kerr-0b660430/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@co2lift