We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stephanie Barrows. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stephanie below.

Stephanie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk about keeping costs under control when growing. How have you managed to keep costs from getting out of control?

HIRAYA was born out of the need to simplify skincare and connect humans back to nature so I built an All-in-One multi-tasking facial oil that cleanses, hydrates, and nourishes the skin, body, and hair. How did I do that? During Covid 2020, I knew my only option was to bootstrap this business and leverage my network and every skill I had. I thought of it as a pilot or a test to see if my brand, idea would resonate and add value to people. I committed to myself that I would only inject big capital and scale if I was working to my maximum capacity so I started to formulate and test my 8-ingredient oil blend with friends and family, at the same time growing my presence on social media and building an audience. I shared my blend with over 20 people, and the results were insane – I had people ordering my oils before I had even manufactured them myself in my apartment. I worked throughout the night, creating the oils, finding the right packaging, understanding the shipping process, and even had my Dad fulfilling the packages and go to the post office. 2 years later, we have officially launched and 70% are repeat customers and continue to participate in local pop-up markets to grow in person. All of this was done by myself, and what I gained from it was invaluable – understanding every aspect of a business, the pure hustle of finding sales and improving your product with your initial customer base. Top tips: 1. Use every automation tool. it allowed me to post regularly, send out marketing, and manage customers initially. 2. Meet your audience and community in person – you can test your product and hear their challenges. 3. Celebrate small wins – I was so excited when my first customer came back. That is a huge win.

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

I suffered from sensitive skin and redness as well as having a port wine stain birthmark which always seemed to flare up when using different cleansers. I was also fed up with the 12-step skincare routine and being told I need 20 products for healthy glowing skin. These cleansers irritated my skin with their harsh chemicals so discovered this amazing oil, Seabuckthorn oil which is soothing, natural vitamin C, and calmed my skin down. I had to share this ingredient with the world, so I decided to create an all-in-one facial oil that could cleanse, hydrate and nourish the skin and would be able to help all skin issues. This oil partnered with a double-sided cleansing cloth, was the magic to healthy glowing skin so I created a set called RESET Cleansing Kit – RESET was the perfect name for it as I wanted people to stop using irritating products and use something was could restore the balance of the skin and give it a break. I also felt that customers wanted more transparency and less water in their products so with a product that only had 8 ingredients, they knew what they were getting and the benefits of each ingredient. I found that most of my customers love the fact it is an all-in-one and for those who want an efficient routine – this was perfect!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I wanted to start a business for a long time, but never felt I had an idea I could stand by. It wasn’t until my mum passed away in December 2020, that I had to channel my grief into something productive and it was then that I poured my heart into building HIRAYA, which has a beautiful meaning in Filippina, where my mum was from. For 3 straight months 6 am-1am in the morning, I would be researching, listening to podcasts, connecting with business owners online, and learning all the skills I need to be a successful entrepreneur and business owner. There were moments when I felt like the world was ending and didn’t see any point of absolutely anything, but I vowed to myself that I would not let my mums passing ruin my life. I don’t think I have ever learned so much in a window of 3 months. It is incredible what you can learn, and do if you are consistent and committed in 3 months. All with the help of Youtube, Clubhouse (at the time!), and social media. By 4 months I had created a vision of my brand, a few test formulas, and an audience who were ready to try all-natural skincare. This was all during Covid in the UK (where I am originally from) and it was a complete lock-down. This was probably the most resilient I have ever been and sometimes I cannot believe I did what I did but it is a lesson that when you direct your focus and energy – you get out what you put in.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Client acquisition is an interesting topic because the world is so full of distractions! and the game of securing a customer’s attention is one I hate to participate in but know it needs to be done. Initially, it was friends and family, and they had been so supportive, but after that what’s next? I knew that to have an edge just after Covid was that I needed to get my brand ut there in real life to real people in real experiences – so I registered to many pop-up markets where I thought my audience would be. I reached out to collaborate with brands which increased my following, but also partnerships with places like Club Pilates (which I am a member of) have reaped huge benefits in getting new clients interested. I think collaborations are fantastic for new clients, growing on social media is tough right now, so if you can meet people in person it can be a snowball effect and they refer people to you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.livehiraya.com
• Instagram: livehiraya
• Facebook: liehiraya
• Linkedin: livehiraya
• Other: Personal instagram: stephisarose Personal tiktok: stephisarose