We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Snigdha Sangisetti a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Snigdha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
Low Ultraviolet is a safe and fashionable UPF 50+ lifestyle brand on a mission to educate and protect the public from skin cancer. We offer sun-protective apparel to help individuals, specifically women, be protected from the sun, and continue to live their lives on their terms. We launched our first product in October 2020 and since then, we’ve curated a catalog of over 25 products.
We proudly place our community on a pedestal, as they’re the true stakeholders of our mission. Unlike other UPF 50+ companies that target older individuals after they have experienced skin cancer, we target a younger demographic to encourage them to make proactive choices to stay sun safe in order to reduce their risk of skin cancer.
As a small woman-founded, woman-owned business, there was always a roadblock looming around the corner, especially post-pandemic. Erica and I had many difficult conversations to prioritize certain aspects of our business, specifically the manufacturing and design process. We also wanted to uniquely position ourselves in an already crowded sun protection market. So, we got to work!
First on the list was initiating an ambassador program to help foster a sense of community and support. All of our ambassadors have been diagnosed with skin cancer and are advocates for supporting and mentoring other women through their diagnosis. The strength of these individuals and the support they provide one another as they’re dealing with difficult diagnoses is inspiring. These women are our biggest supporters and never hesitate to share feedback. We give our ambassadors a voice and a community of support to share their stories and advocate for change. We are proud to donate time, money and resources to community efforts to educate. (Learn more about our ambassador, Leah Adams, and L.U.V. in this article in Allure: https://www.allure.com/story/melanoma-cancer-survivors-sun-protection-tips)
Secondly, after COVID-19 vaccinations rolled out, we wanted to start selling in person and reach a new audience (to the extent possible). As proud Hokies, our first instinct was to tap into the Virginia Tech alumni network. We hosted our first Pop-Up Shop in Blacksburg at a local coffee shop. The Pop-Up Shop also served as a way to network with other Hokies, dermatologists, skin cancer survivors, etc. This year, we’ve started getting requests to host pop-ups at various locations, including wineries and town centers.
Next, we wanted to partner with larger, established organizations to solidify our position in the market. L.U.V. is a proud partner of the Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF), the largest independent organization devoted to melanoma. Additionally, we are thankful to be able to donate 5% of sales during our busiest season (May-August) to the MRF. We hosted another pop-up shop in collaboration with the Claire Marie Foundation in Blacksburg, Virginia in October 2022 to bring sun-safety awareness to young college students and implore them to take their skin health seriously from an early age. We are also partnered with the Lupus Foundation of America, We Rock Cancer, and Cancer Coalition of Virginia with hopes of expanding further in the future.
We believe knowledge is power, which is why our entire company is built on the mission to educate and protect the public from skin cancer, while also providing tools to keep our community safe. We partner with board-certified dermatologists on the Ultraviolet Tide blog (https://lowultraviolet.com/blog) and Ultraviolet Tide Podcast (https://open.spotify.com/show/6c1bFf5GEopzhIM4Z3XuZW) to advocate for skin cancer awareness. Furthermore, all of our products that come to market are requested and approved by our brand ambassadors to ensure we’re putting their needs first. We want women purchasing our product to have a hand in bringing it to life.
The Ultraviolet Tide Podcast launched in January of 2023 as an extension of the Low Ultraviolet brand. Erica and I focus on mental health and lifestyle while welcoming guests such as board-certified dermatologists, skin cancer advocates, and mental well-being coaches.
In addition to our focus on community outreach and dedication to paying it forward, our sun protection does not diminish with wash and wear like other alternatives on the market. Our UPF 50+ textile is lightweight, comfortable, wicking + cooling, high-performance microfiber fabric, color that won’t fade from exposure to the elements, is antimicrobial, and has the Skin Cancer seal of recommendation for effective UPF garments.
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 back background and context?
In addition to working on Low Ultraviolet part-time, I work as a Machine Learning Engineer in the northern Virginia area. I’m approaching my two-year anniversary at my full-time role and I’ve learned to strike a balance between both roles, while also maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
I grew up loving math and visual representations. I prefer to use data to explain phenomena over emotion, so I pursued data science, which is the happy medium between my natural strengths and developed interests. When Erica and I crossed paths at Virginia Tech, we were on our own paths but happened to be in the same student organization. We eventually ended up on the leadership team of this organization but it wasn’t until a year later that I officially joined the Low Ultraviolet team.
Low Ultraviolet (L.U.V.) was founded on the principle of helping others through their skin cancer journey – whether that meant being there for them with our safe, fashionable, UPF 50+ clothing or as a shoulder to cry on. We wanted to create a safe space for our community to share their struggles, triumphs, and everything in between. Erica and I truly believe that we are nothing without our community.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
This ties back into our focus as a community-first brand, our ambassador program, social media outreach, pop-up shops, blog, and podcast are our ways of continuing to engage our community. We have a personal relationship with many of our customers and communicate regularly through calls, texts, and DMs.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Our social media presence has been the backbone of referrals and outreach. We’ve also found that hosting pop-up shops is an amazing way to meet face-to-face with interested customers. Additionally, any press attention we’ve received has driven sales. We’re thankful for any opportunity to share our story and support others.
Contact Info:
- Website: lowultraviolet.com
- Instagram: @lowultraviolet
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LowUltraviolet
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/low-ultraviolet
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lowultraviolet
- Other: Listen to The Ultraviolet Tide on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/6c1bFf5GEopzhIM4Z3XuZW?si=bbab2d2459db4f65
Image Credits
Peter Means