Scaling a Luxury Brand with Lita Cunningham

Lita: [00:00:00] when I landed in the beauty industry, it was a dream.

and then eight days later it was announced that one of my products won Oprah’s favorite things. We’re in the eye of the storm here. 

Courtney: Hi, my name is Courtney, and welcome to How They Scaled It, where scaling is done with both sides of the brain. On this show, we sit down with growth stage businesses and speak with founders and industry leaders from e commerce and SaaS sectors. We showcase their journeys, unpacking the pivotal moments, marketing strategies, and key decisions that helped shape their success.

Today, I’m bringing on Lita Cunningham. Lita is the visionary founder of Lalais a luxury skincare brand redefining the solutions for misunderstood skin. In just 13 months, Lalais has already landed at Neiman Marcus, been recognized by Oprah’s Favorite Things, and earned top industry awards. Lita, it is great to see you, and welcome to How They Scaled It.

Lita: Oh, thank you. Thank you for having me.

Courtney: Of course, of course, I, so we’ve talked a few times before this, so I know a little bit of [00:01:00] your backstory, but I think what’s so interesting, um, about your story is that you came from corporate. You were in a corporate HR role for a while. What pushed you to leave and embark on this entrepreneurial path?

Lita: Yeah, well, actually, I’ve been, uh, HR professional my whole career. Um, so there was never my intention to do this, but, um, I have always been a beauty junkie and, uh, but my skin did not always allow it. And, um, you know, I’ve had the pleasure of working in some creative industries and when I landed in the beauty industry, it was a dream.

Uh, I worked at Elizabeth Arden and loved, you know, working with primarily women and love the innovation process and being around product, but I couldn’t always use the product. And, um, Uh, through my adult life, I’ve been back and forth to the dermatologist on Accutane twice, chemically burned and recovered, laser burned and [00:02:00] recovered.

So I’ve had my own personal journey going through it and, I was, as you said, in a corporate role. My, uh, company got acquired and I was sitting out my non compete and I like to say magic happens when you have a few martinis too many with your girlfriends. They said, you know, you’re always manic about your skin.

Um, you know, you should create the brand we always wanted. And I said, well, you know, I worked in it, but I don’t know anything about it. And they said, no, but you’re just the person that could do it. And so it was a little marble in my head. And, um, I bit the bullet and did something crazy and left that very successful career to do something that I, you know, knew nothing about.

Courtney: Yeah. No, that’s amazing. Do you think that you would end up here if that company had not gotten acquired? Do you think it would have eventually kind of come together? Or do you think that that was really an important part of it? Yeah.

Lita: know, in corporate for so [00:03:00] long and I was ready for a little break and just examining what was next. Was I just going to get another job and kind of do the same thing for a different company? Or, you know, did I have other aspirations? And I really didn’t have that figured out.

But I, you know, there was something that I was so passionate about and actually frustrated about. And regardless of what your path is, you know, we are such a visual, uh, society now and you know, as successful as I was at, you know, such a young age and all of those things, you know, you could have something like your skin that was, that would really zap your confidence.

And, um, it was powerful. I didn’t know all those pieces would come together. And that’s a good question. I’m not sure that without something pivotal happening, that I would have just stopped what I was doing and started something else.

Courtney: well, and that I think that [00:04:00] makes sense. And, and it’s all kind of about, there’s a little bit of a kismet fate involved with all entrepreneurs, but I love that your friends kind of rallied around you and were like, no, this is actually the path that you’re going to go on. Like you got to do it.

Lita: Yeah.

Courtney: Um, I love how authentic your brand is how it’s really coming from a source of truth and you’ve described Laleh as a love letter to people with misunderstood skin How was that process of because I know you’ve done a ton of work around Developing really good formulas.

How did that start? Like how what was the first step into like starting to develop the product? Yeah

Lita: so I have this natural curiosity. What about this? What about this? What about this? And I was really genuinely perplexed as to why we have a industry with all this stuff and I had access to it and [00:05:00] nothing was working or working for very long. And, you know, the answer, I kept going to the dermatologist and the answer was drugs.

And I said, with all this stuff and innovation going on, why is it that there aren’t products for, you know, skin like mine? I was lucky to get introduced to one of the most globally renowned cosmetic chemists. you know, I was describing to him what I was experiencing. And, you know, our first meeting, he said, bring everything that you’re using.

We didn’t realize I literally had a little rollie bag. And when I was meeting with him in the Starbucks, I literally had two tables and I was setting up all this stuff and he was like, you know, looking at it. I said, yeah, when you have skin like mine, you know, you have something for breakouts and something for this and something for that.

And I do this once a week and I do this and, um, you know, I said, I really want [00:06:00] something where someone can push a pump, put it on and it’s. You know, it’s, it’s on its way to improvement. And I said, you know, why is this stuff not working? And he said, because it wasn’t made for you. And it’s something so simple.

That, you know, kind of was like, whoa, hit me in the heart. And that’s, you know, started my brain that saying, you know what, this stuff, as good as it is, is it made for me and I need to make something that’s made for these sort of skin concerns. And so actually Courtney, before. We even, it was almost a year that I just wanted to learn about skin.

You know, when you are dealing with something this important for someone on someone, um, you really want to know what you’re doing. And I took that responsibility so heavily that I really dived into learning about skin and hyperpigmentation and [00:07:00] why some skin tones are reactive and what’s true, what’s false and some of those things.

And then after literally almost a year is when I started diving into ingredients and then he would give me a homework assignment, research this, research that you want to do this. And um, so you know, it took a long time. Um, but I ended up with a recipe that I then took to a lab to make, which is unlike what’s done in the industry.

You know, this is a contract manufacturing industry. You’re beholden to the big players getting something on shelf on a certain date and starting from scratch. Um, when that’s your only formula is, you know, not the way to guarantee that. But, you know, I ended up with bespoke formulas that are different than anything on the market, and that’s, you know, how we’re able to play in, you know, and kind of break new ground in whitespace.

Courtney: Yeah, well, I, I love the amount of care [00:08:00] that you’ve taken in developing the product because as we know, in the e commerce space, if you really want long term success, you have to have a product that actually works like people are not going to keep buying products, especially luxury products if they don’t work.

So doing all that research probably really set you up for success. And, you know, we say that your company is 13 months old, but it’s really years old. Like from when you first started and started doing that research, if you include all of that R and D, you’re actually, you know, there’s been years and years that have gone into this.

So I would not describe it as an overnight success.

Lita: For sure. I like to say, you know, it feels like 100 year old tree, you know, the roots have been there forever. But, um, you know, but, uh, but yeah, it’s been above ground for 13 months. So that’s a good good way to say it.

Courtney: Yeah, yeah. And so once you developed your product and you’re like, this is it, like I got, how did you know that you were like, okay, product is made, we have the formula. Was there something like [00:09:00] there was like you tried it and it worked or how did you know that you were done, working on the formulas?

Lita: a couple of things were happening at the same time. I mean, you, you know, when you are entrepreneur to do something like this and, you know, especially at this stage of a very successful career, you have to be, you know, a little bit crazy. And I would lit, literally go to Sephoras and I would man the aisles and look at people that were looking at, Acne products, breakup products, you know, oil free and ask them. And I ended up with a small pool of people that when I was formulating and I would get samples, I would parcel them out in little things and get them to them for them to be able to give me feedback. So I literally have notebooks from, people’s comments, text messages, whatever about, you know, different formulas, too much of this, too much of that.

And even myself having used so much, but this [00:10:00] isn’t a brand that I made for me. This is a brand that I made for, you know, people with these skin concerns. So You know, I like to say, you know,

Courtney: Yeah. Yeah.

Lita: back, I mean, we were exhausted between my two serums. I mean, this is over 100 tries.

I have been at two, um, you know, formulators already. The first one said, you’re nuts. You’re crazy. This is not, you know, something that, That is possible. And I said, yeah, it is possible. So I went to the second, um, lab and, you know, worked on it, but between the two and all the tries between the two formulas, it was over a hundred tries at this.

So very long period of time COVID happened in between. But when we got to the end, you know, it was getting better, better, better, better, better. But when we got to the end. [00:11:00] Everybody was like, I don’t know what’s in this one, but oh my God. And you know, all the things that we were trying to solve, it was like, okay, are you sure?

No, I want you to use it for one more week. Let’s just see. And universally everybody was like, wow. So you kind of, you know, it was me that felt that way, but also some validation that’s like, okay, we’ve nailed it.

Courtney: Yeah. I love that you kind of just did like gorilla marketing style focus groups. Like you’re just like went in and that’s a, that’s incredible. And like, cause it takes a lot of money. Like I think these like huge brands would go out and do, do focus groups and pull in people and have them test it and get their feedback.

But I think that you did that really scrappy way and you were able to get to the correct product at the end of the day, which is really cool. Also, um, Was it disheartening to hear that one lab was like, this is impossible? Or were you just like, oh, you’re ridiculous. I’m going to move [00:12:00] on.

Lita: when you enter onto a journey and like this and you’re really trying, you know, my genuine interest was to solve something. Um, this is truly a problem solution brand and, um, not just, you know, fine tune. We’re a little bit different than this one because of, you know, we’ve got fairy dust and they’ve got magic dust or, you know, whatever it is.

it’s almost like, you know, how they say you’re an actor and you audition, you have to, you know, build up that thickness of, you know, no, no, no, no, no. There’s just so many problems and issues and people that don’t believe and, you know, say it’s not possible and you have to get bigger and, you know, it’s just constant.

But my mother will always tell you, you know, she doesn’t really. follow strict directions. Very well. So, you know, the first formulator, this is really, you know, diving into the deep end and understanding kind of how the business works [00:13:00] and why it works that way. Um, you know, and from a contract manufacturing standpoint, what works for the business is that they have something that is a little bit more plug and play that they can, you And then for the contract manufacturer, they already are able to reap efficiencies because they have, you know, something that they can easily tailor for whatever client it is.

But I wasn’t easily being horned into that and actually wanted to, you know, start with a clean kettle and start from scratch. And when you’re dealing with that many actives at those kind of concentrations and all this stuff coming together, which with each ingredient, it becomes exponentially more difficult to get a formula to, you know, be stable and mesh together and then get the texture you want and the color you want and fragrance free and, you know, all the stuff that, [00:14:00] that were our requirements.

So, you know, they just, We’re saying that no, you know, no go on this. And, um, after, four sessions of what I was getting, it wasn’t meeting my mark. And they just said, what you’re trying to do, there’s a reason why this doesn’t exist. This is too difficult. This is not the thing. It’s not possible.

And, um, I just found someone who was a little crazy

Courtney: well,

Lita: and said, it is possible.

Courtney: yeah, a little more savvy. I mean, I, love that that didn’t slow you down. I think that that’s the thing like entrepreneurs, you have to be a little bit crazy to be told no so many times and to have to like really stick it out. And, but in the end, then you get something that’s never been created before.

And, and that’s, that’s pretty incredible. I mean, it’s pretty magical. Um, even though it’s not quite magic, it is science.

Lita: Well, they do call my perfecting serum magic in a bottle. So that was the, that was the first hump we got [00:15:00] over. And, uh, uh, so very, you know, very poignant there.

Courtney: Yeah. Well, and then you’ve kind of also had a very unconventional, route to success in your actual sales. So once you launched the company, you actually went to retail first, and you got on some pretty high end retailers before jumping into e commerce. Can you tell me a little bit about how you got your foot in the door, um, for your first retail sales?

Lita: you know, my intention was just to, launch the brand, get some success and then branch out into retail, which is the traditional formula. I was, I was speaking about the brand, what I was doing. You know, I always had little samples around and, people could see like, wow, what’s going, you look great.

What’s going on with your skin. You know, I’ve been. Testing it on my skin for all these years. So all of the discoloration was gone. I come to you today with no foundation on. So my product and a little Courtney got a little judge from me today, but no, um, [00:16:00] foundation, this is actually my skin. I had met some people and they, um, had said, you know, you should pitch to retail. I said, well, you know, I haven’t even launched yet. And they said, no, well, you know, it’ll get you ready. Um, it’s good to have a pitch because even for your DTC clients, you know, just getting that elevator speech down, knowing what you’re going to highlight, getting that feedback will, will be important from buyers that see all these brands.

So it was really kind of a. Put, get your foot in the door and, um,

Courtney: like practicing, like you didn’t, you didn’t think anything was going to come

Lita: yeah. So then, um, I had some meetings and, um, you know, I look on the schedule at the first meeting is with Bergdorf Goodman, Bergdorf Goodman, the most prestigious retailer in the US and, um, literally, you know, kind of back to back, um, Bergdorf’s and, and the Neiman’s and, and, um, you know, there was [00:17:00] something about the Bergdorf’s meeting.

They just got it. They got the concept. And, you know, Bergdorf’s is known as, you know, a very heavily curated, selection of brands. So, you know, they said, this is speaking to a customer that we don’t have anything that is really addressing that. And so of course they, you know, try the product for several weeks.

And then I was having my followup meeting with them, you know, thinking they’re going to say, oh, this is nice, you know, whatever, come back next year. And they said, well, can you giddy up and get ready for holiday? Holiday, rich holiday, holiday, like in 90 days, 90 days. I didn’t even, you know, have, of course, you know, as an entrepreneur, you’re like, Oh, of course, no problem.

You know, whatever you hang up the phone and you’re like, ah, so, um, so, you know, it was getting the goods here and, you know, doing that, but it was, the [00:18:00] most magical to use that word again, um, beginning. being in retail and being in the most prestigious, um, retailer in the U S is, is, you know, nothing short of just, um, you know, a dream and they’ve been wonderful partner.

Courtney: Yeah, they, and it gives you so much credibility in the luxury space because you are a luxury product and, being in kind of a higher end retailer just proves that like you’ve gotten the buy in from kind of these tastemakers at these, these giant luxury retailers. And so that’s, uh, that must have been just very, um,

Lita: Well, my head was spinning Courtney and then eight days later it was announced that one of my products won Oprah’s favorite things. So it, it, you know, we’re in the eye of the storm here. Uh,

Courtney: I wanted to mention you’ve also like you’ve got this great retail Got an in with that, but then also you’ve really been doing incredible with [00:19:00] press and you’ve gotten on multiple television spots Oprah’s favorite things. Did you have to enter in for oprah’s favorite things? How does that process work?

Lita: you submit your product and you pray. That’s what you do. That’s what you do. And, um, you know, your, your prayer. Never quite sure did it make it, you know, the messenger said he did leave it there. I’ve got a signature. Does this person exist?

You know, and you know, it’s this long lag time and then all of a sudden you get a call from a number that you don’t recognize and, um, you know, it. Someone asking you questions about the product and, you know, what have you, you’re like, Hmm, okay, they did get it. And then, several weeks go by and then, they ask more questions and then you’re like, huh, well, they called again, and then you get the, get the call that says, congratulations.

And you’re like, what? So,

Courtney: And you got to get ready for that. I mean, yeah, that’s a, that’s a huge get in your first year. And I [00:20:00] mean, I, I think it’s cool because the product really speaks for itself. It’s not like you went in and pitched it and told them all your stuff. You just sent them your product and they liked it.

um, yeah, that’s a, it’s a really, really cool thing to get on your first year selling.

Yeah.

Lita: Yeah, we’ve been lucky. The brand to your point has, um, gotten, you know, great press. Um, but then also outside of that, just the industry acknowledgement through awards and lists. and things of that nature. Um, you know, one of our biggest trade organizations is cosmetic executive women. And these are, you know, women that have been in the business.

They have seen brands come and go. And so to make their top 25 brands to watch, you know, and this sort of market in in, eight months was amazing. You know, was like, wow, um, for people that know in the industry. And then, you know, a [00:21:00] month after that, we made new beauties, um, top 100 brands, and 25 in the skincare category.

So we were the youngest baby in the skincare category. And when you think 25 brands that are out there and we’re one of them, less than a year old, I mean, you know, in terms of the entire collection is really, a pinch me moment too.

Courtney: Yeah, that’s it’s so special. I also kind of want to talk about how you are creating a luxury experience because I think that, you know, you have all these, these awards and, you know, you’re getting featured in all these places, but I also know for you that the customer experience when they actually receive the product is like a really important, element to it.

Can you talk a little bit about like packaging and just how you’ve created that luxury experience for all customers?

Lita: when you’ve been told your entire adult life, you know, Oh, you know, it’s just too bad. You have, you know, problem skin, you’re going to have to deal with it. you know, the products that have been recommended to you or either prescription [00:22:00] or, you know, they’re kind of in the drug store on the bottom shelf, you know, bright orange or red, you know, that kind of, Signifies danger problem fix it and you know, I wanted a very different experience because it’s not problem skin.

It’s just been misunderstood and I Wanted someone when you’re dealing in someone Um, especially treatment sort of products. You know, you’re catching that person at their most vulnerable. It’s either in the morning, not shushed up. It’s you and them in the bathroom and they’re looking at themselves in their rawest form.

Or it’s that night after the day they’re taking everything off for the day. And you have those few moments with them. And I just think that’s. It’s such a huge responsibility for your product to, have someone without anything else be able to smile back at themselves. And so I wanted that [00:23:00] experience to feel like a gift when people were using my product from the second they received it to the experience that they have using it.

So the bright white of the packaging signifies the clinical efficacy and chops of what’s inside the bottle, but what’s outside the bottle, um, is also, you know, the copy is in metallic gold and, you know, very clean and crisp and modern. Um, because I wanted someone to say, okay, I’ve got issues that I have to address, but to be proud to use these products and to have these products on their vanity and on their shelf.

And for them to look better than anything else, Courtney, so, um, so, and then when you deal with advisors or pay people that are in the business and they’re telling you, you know, save every few cents you can hear and your cost of goods and this, that and the other, it was important to me that every single element while people were scaling [00:24:00] back that we actually, you know, Left that experience because it’s no secret that, e comm people are getting more and more comfortable shopping for cause that beauty and cosmetic, items online.

And you know, what’s the reason why we go to a store, we go to a store for the exploration, but we go to the store because there’s that dopamine that we get when we get that bag, it’s all wrapped up. It’s, you know, and we get home and we have to unpackage it. It’s almost. that this is something that I’ve, um, invested in myself.

And so I wanted to give that same sort of experience in a D to C way. And that’s why, you’ll see a ton of videos on our unboxing and, oh my God, this packaging is just amazing. Um, you know, because we wanted from every single touch point to say, you know, this is a gift and an investment in yourself.

Courtney: Yeah. Well, I love the idea [00:25:00] of saying your skin is not a problem. Like let’s not treat it like an alarm bells going off. Like if I’m an adult with adult acne, I don’t want to go to the store and buy like Acne stuff where it’s like screaming at you that you have pimples like that’s not fun and to have something that is just so clean and adult and sophisticated.

I think it goes a long way just for like, because what you’re doing also is you’re kind of increasing people’s confidence by improving their skin and to that. Not have to pull out something that says I have bad skin every time you want to wash your face

I think it goes a long way and it’s beautiful and you travel with it and Yeah, have it be proud to have it on your vanity

Lita: Yeah. Yeah. And even our blotting compact now shows up at all the hottest, um, you know, restaurants from coast to coast, you know, on the table or whatever. So that thing that you used to, you know, kind of at Starbucks still, you know, still extra napkins and stuff in your purse and then, you know, dab. [00:26:00] it’s almost like, uh, you know, this is what I do.

Get over it, you know, so, uh, 

Courtney: I remember the old blotting sheets that I would buy when I was a teenager that were blue

and you’d pull them out and then they looked so gross and it was always like something you did like very hidden. Um, so it’s kind of cool to be able to just be like, yeah, let me just like blot my oil and go on with my day.

Lita: And like, zhoosh, and we’re done.

Courtney: well, I want to talk, I know that it It seems like you’ve had a fairy tale. Uh, company launch and everything’s been roses, but I’m sure there have been challenges. Um, what kind of, what were the major challenges that you kind of faced and how did you get over those?

Lita: you know, the major challenge is just being an entrepreneur. A self funded entrepreneur. it takes a lot of money to make it and to break through. you know, no matter how much you plan and you think that you’re going to do this and you know, you anticipate, you know, to try to [00:27:00] anticipate that it’s shocking.

marketplace is so competitive and it’s so saturated you know, it used to be, you could be on fire and one element and then the other would catch up or you could, you know, be doing this and, and kind of piecemeal it together. You can’t anymore. And I think my biggest.

Um, learning is that to really move forward, um, you kind of have to have to have this, this wheel that’s turning and, um, all of the spokes, kind of operating that’s kind of the point that we are now is trying to bring all that together and in the DTC environment and move forward.

But, you know, it’s challenging to, you know, retail is a blessing, but also it’s challenging to be a brand to have to, you know, it’s spend the money as an unknown brand to try to build awareness, to have people to work, you know, and kind of represent your brand in [00:28:00] store, for samples and sampling and display and, you know, all of this sort of stuff that it takes to be in retail.

And then, you know, you’re trying to. also kind of build your brand otherwise and you’re working with freelancers and sometimes they, you know, we’re very transient population. So you want someone is committed to your brand as you are, and that isn’t necessarily, you know, their commitment. Um, and, you know, when you’re little and small, you really need people with experience, but you can only afford people that are, you know, at the earlier stage in their career.

So it’s just every single day, just a lesson in, dichotomies, you know, you need this, but you can afford that. you have to be here, but you’re small, so you really want this, but your MOQs are that, and it doesn’t work. So, you know, it’s a constant decision making and, 

Courtney: It’s [00:29:00] kind of almost just like never ending compromise. Like, and prioritizing and figuring out what’s most important in 

Lita: For sure. 

Courtney: planning for the future. 

Lita: For 

Courtney: I’m sure it’s like frustrating to see, you know, I know that my brand operates at this high level and I have this high level product, but I need all these things to happen in order for us to fund at that level, which is, I mean, it’s so impressive as a self funded founder.

Like that’s, I mean, it’s hard to do. Um, and I also, when you’re kind of talking about, you know, there’s all these costs and there’s so much time, um, it almost feels like you need kind of an unwavering belief in yourself and your product. there are going to be long periods of time where you’re not making money, but you got to believe in what you’re doing.

And I mean, you’ve spent years developing these formulas that, and you, I’m sure, was there ever times where you kind of had self doubt? Or did you, did you know from the beginning, like, this is going to work, I’m going to make this happen?

Lita: No, I knew from the beginning this is [00:30:00] going to work. you know, it’s a, it’s a consumer that doesn’t have you know, viable options. And I know how high quality this option is. My challenge is to make that known and, and to, and, and so I understood. the quality of the product and kind of what the challenges.

Um, so I never had self doubt that it would, you know, that it would work where the, you know, but there’s. Enormous amount of stress and challenge and, um, trying to figure out what that path is going to be that I could, you know, afford and, and, you know, it makes decision making and timing very critical, you know, you kind of have to have a little bit of success here to basically get a yes over there to basically, you know, it’s like a unknown obstacle course.

Courtney: [00:31:00] Yeah. I love that. You never doubt to yourself for a second though.

Lita: you know, it’s, it’s, it may be, I don’t know. That didn’t sound so good.

Courtney. 

Courtney: I think it’s great. 

I think that’s You boarded the train and you said full steam ahead. We’re doing this. And I 

Lita: yeah, I have, I have two speeds fast and faster. So, you know, I think it’s also probably part of my makeup

that, um, 

Courtney: yeah. Well, I’m surprised you didn’t become an entrepreneur sooner. It sounds like you were kind of born for it, honestly.

Lita: You know, I, I, my, some of my friends say that too. I think everything happens in the right time. You know, even when I look back at my corporate experience, they’re different experiences that I pull on and leverage that I think just prepared me for this

Courtney: Yeah, no, I totally agree. I think I hear that a lot from founders to who were in corporate and then they left and started their own business. I think that you kind of need to know how the other side lives a little bit [00:32:00] and you need to know what’s out there and how businesses are run on like a large scale.

So then as you go into your own business, you have like, just a little bit of perspective, I think is so valuable. So it makes sense. It’s okay that you started when you did, cause it’s doing well now.

Lita: You know, you were in corporate and you were like, oh my God, why are they so focused on budgets? Like enough already we’re trying to do stuff and now you’re like, oh my God,

Courtney: Um, well, so as someone who is now, I would say, has a successful luxury brand, um, do you have any advice for other founders in the luxury space, specifically the skincare space, to get into these higher end retailers or kind of get things going the way that you have?

Lita: product differentiation is really key. I think more and more in all aspects of our life. the consumer is really looking for solutions specific to [00:33:00] them. so I think we’re going to get more and more niche, more and more personalized. going to market with something that’s truly different will, will help those conversations.

Um, I think that’s that. I think having a very clear. brand, positioning and, you know, who are you serving, what are you solving? where are you going to live? Um, you know, I get asked all the time, things like, you know, do you want to launch in Sephora, do you want to do this, that, and the other, I can introduce you to this, you know, and that.

And it’s. for me, I’m trying to build my network and be open to, you know, the possibilities and opportunities for the brand, but where the brand lives, I’ve always been pretty specific about what I was developing and, you know, the consumer that I wanted to speak to because that, you know, person had been [00:34:00] me for so long.

and the sort of. Product that I was really passionate about developing, um, at least initially, um, was in that lane. you know, I wanted it high science, high quality, high efficacy, you know, uh, in that, that piece of it, I get asked, you know, will you do a teen line or will you do, you know, a little bit different price point or, you know, that can live someplace else or, you know, men’s is a question we’re getting a lot.

there’s so much stuff that comes at you that just the laser focus is what you have to do because there’s other people doing stuff over here, other people doing stuff over there and trends and you know, that you could just spend every day, you know, following and it’s like you have to just be dogged about what you’re doing in your path.

Courtney: Yeah, well, and that takes so much discipline because I think there’s so many people in your ear saying, there’s all these opportunities all over the place. And Yeah. Having like, we are serving this [00:35:00] one type of person this with this very not specific type of skin, but who has misunderstood skin and has not been served to get distracted by other things.

Your quality across the board will go down. So to say. We’re going to do this until we reach our market saturation, and then we can do a very good job on this next thing. Um, I think that’s something that a lot of founders have trouble with, is not going in, they go in too many different directions, and staying hyper focused.

it’s working for you at least. That’s it.

Lita: Thirteen months, Courtney. Don’t jinx me.

Don’t jinx me.

Courtney: I know that we right now you’re working on, uh, getting more website sales. So bringing DTC on the website, selling online. In addition to the retail, what else is coming up for you in this next year? Do you have, or are you just trying to push through and get whatever comes your Well, yeah, um, you know, our story as I described, it’s a little bit [00:36:00] reverse. We started in retail and now we’re just trying to grow the DTC, in terms of, kind of heartbeat of our business. so that’s one and that, um, we’ll take a tremendous amount of our focus to do that. And we just, you know, we haven’t even.

Lita: hit the tip of the iceberg in terms of our brand awareness. So that really is a big hurdle for us is just getting through that funnel of you know, it used to be seven to eight. Now people are saying nine to 10 touch points for them to say, Hey, this is for me and let me try the product. So I think that’s a very big focus for us.

But the other focus is really, um, Um, penetration in some different channels, the quality and efficacy of the products really speak to a controlled environment and, um, luxury hotels and spas and that, you know, those sort of experiences. [00:37:00] And, um, so we’re having some conversations in that regard in terms of, you know, the brand there, um, our blotting compact should be in gift shops in every luxury hotel and certainly, you know, down the Mexican and Caribbean corridor, um, when it’s blazing hot, you know, what better, uh, what better opportunity for women to want to look picture perfect than when they’re traveling or on vacation in these locations and it should be readily available for them, particularly at that price point.

Um, so, you know, on cruise ships on whatever, you know, I could go on in terms of those opportunities. And so, um, really doing what we do well, um, we’re still an infant in, you know, Retail and we need to grow our business and our base and our customer base then so that more people are coming in saying, hey, where is that?

I heard about it. So, you know, that’s what I owe to our [00:38:00] retail partners to to continue to drive that. but then also put the brand and, you know, some of those other spaces that it can thrive.

Courtney: Yeah. So instead of focusing on more product development, you’re focusing more on access and, and awareness. And, um, cause you have such a solid lineup right now of products. Do you have any plans for new products in the near future?

Lita: Yes. Yes. So, you know, this business is based on newness even though we’re at infant, it’s hard to add something new when so few people know about what you’re doing. But for my sort of products, what I know from formulating and what I know, you know, they say I’m picky that we need to start early to get to the right, you know, sort of thing.

So we’ll be doing some new product innovation, on, um, skin care. So, um, we get a lot of questions, uh, and inquiries. You know, what do I use with this? And that’s exactly what we wanted. Once you can show [00:39:00] someone that you can improve their skin, then they’ll ask you, Okay, what do I use with this? Are you going to come out with that?

You know, and, and that’s what you want, rather than having to buy it. push, you know, an entire line on someone. So we’re going to be innovating on skin care. Um, you know, I have my eye on the supplement market. That’s that category is, um, growing. I think more and more and more people are really focused on their health and wellness.

Um, we have, um, supplements that work, the skin perfecting complex is one of the best beauty supplements on the market, which is a huge acknowledgement, um, to what we put into it. So, um, but there’s all these other sort of conditions that really affect our skin and affect our health and wellness that I’m interested in.

the new product side, I have a list of You know, uh, the length of my arm in terms of what I want to develop. But I think, to really serve the business [00:40:00] well is how do we take this very tight edit that solves issues from the outside, from the inside, and instantly and for Hero products, how do we grow the awareness so that more people know about it and more people ask us and then are an audience for our new product innovation.

So that kind of timing is very important to me to get the DTC up and running, get a little bit more distribution and have that pool of people that will then say, yeah, bring it on, bring that new newness on.

Courtney: Yeah, well, and it feels there does feel like there’s a little bit of urgency to kind of strike while the iron’s hot while you have this really good press while you’re winning these awards and i’m sure that that press success will continue but It just feels like this, like, little lightning bottle, like, in in the moment thing that you want to really capitalize on.

So I’m sure everything feels like, let’s move, let’s move, let’s move, but you also are someone who [00:41:00] really values quality. And so I’m sure that that’s challenging too, to figure out, you want to move quickly, but you want to move the right way. And

so, um, I, I 

Lita: that really comes down. Yeah, and that really comes down to, um, you know, just having the right partners, you know, being an HR professional. 1 of the things I am aware of is what I’m good at and what I’m not good at, you know, what my skill set is. Um, I’m not a core marketer. I’m, you know, I have a lot of gut instinct because I was a consumer on the other other side.

So I know what to solve for. but really partnering with people who have expertise in their field, and I think that are a match in terms of, excitement about the opportunity. you know, it’s really important for us to find those partners who are just as jazzed at the opportunity and who can see joint success going after it.

So that’s really my, um, you know, my homework assignment is to make sure that we align with [00:42:00] the right partners that can help accelerate that for us.

Courtney: Yeah, no, that, that totally makes sense. And also, given that you’re, um, a single founder, like you, you don’t have a co founder, making all those decisions on your own, like you do need really good partners to help guide you in the right direction.

Lita: yeah, 

Courtney: yeah. Um, well, kind of to wrap up today, I asked this question to everybody.

Um, if you could give yourself a piece of advice when you were first starting LALAIS what would it be?

Lita: breathe, breathe you know, pace yourself. Um, no, my piece of advice would be, you know, it’s going to be a marathon.

Courtney: Yeah,

Lita: I think you, you kind of think that, but you know, everybody thinks, Oh, my brand is special. And, and, uh, you know, it’s, there is no preparation for the amount of grit and hustle it takes to move a business forward, particularly one that’s self funded.

That’s not [00:43:00] celebrity. There’s no private equity firm. There’s no billionaire boyfriend. There’s no like, you know, it’s really grit, hustle, um, a little bit of luck, but you know, you have to, Breathe and you know, I got a good piece of advice, which I’ll leave you with from a entrepreneur that says, you know, at the end of each day, you’re going to have some that are very high and some that are very low and 

at the end of each day, touch your product 

you know, whatever it is, whether it’s you do t shirts or, you know, glasses or whatever you do.

So literally, um, No matter what time of night or actually morning, uh, it is kind of the last thing I do is, you know, do a PR box answer a customer email or someone ordered something, write them a personal note from the founder. But like before I. Kind of shut down for the evening. I get back to why I did this in the first place.

I’m like choking up, which is, solve, you [00:44:00] know, to bring people confidence and, and, you know, their shoulders back in their, their chest forward and, you know, their face forward that they feel confident in that. And so, um, having just that little moment to get back to To grounding and then you, you know, lay your head down and you wake up the next day and you say, okay, bring it on.

And I think that’s, um, important.

Courtney: Yeah, that’s beautiful. I, yeah, I love that advice. And, and it’s so important to for founders to zoom out a little bit. And I think that’s what you’re doing. You’re kind of having like a meditative moment where you like, okay, pause on all of the chaos. Let’s focus on the thing. Like, why are we actually doing this?

Um, so I, I love

Lita: And get recentered.

Courtney: Recenter.

Lita: yeah, yeah.

Courtney: well, where can people find you online? Where can they find the brand?

Lita: Yes. Yes. So you can find the brand at lillet. com and on instagram and tiktok at at lillet skincare. Um, you can find [00:45:00] me at lita at lillet. com. at glam lita NYC. On Instagram and tick tock. So follow us. We’re still babies and we’re growing our social media. So please follow us and, um, please root for us.

Um, you know, it’s, very special, these smaller entrepreneurial and deep brands your love and support mean the world to us. So thank you for that. And thank your audience.

Courtney: of course, NLALE is spelled L A L A I S. Just for, I will tag you in everything, but, um,

Lita: Correct.

Courtney: Uh, 

Lita: S is, the S is silent. Lillay.

Courtney: Laleh. it’s been really incredible talking with you today, Lita, and watch this space. I think you’re, you’re about to really blow up, um, in a very good way. So, very excited for you.

Lita: From your lips, Courtney,

Courtney: Yes. 

Lita: God’s ears. Thank you so much.

Courtney: Of course, of course. And thank you everyone at home for watching, um, and listening. And if you enjoyed today’s episode, please make sure to [00:46:00] subscribe, share with a friend, leave us a review. If there’s anything you’d like to hear on upcoming episode, please just let us know. And for more insights, you can always visit, uh, right left agency.com, or visit our LinkedIn right left agency.

We’ll be back, uh, soon with more stories of success, innovation, and marketing strategies to help you grow. See you on the next one.