SPEAKER_00 0:00

Oh, almost every other brand, every other cosmetic brand hires another company to make the product. They are then they're they're essentially a marketing company. Right? They're an RD, and a lot of them do come up with their own formulas and they'll hire a lab. Jet.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Harold.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Megan.

SPEAKER_03 0:22

Gleater.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Wearing it.

SPEAKER_03 0:24

Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

You're not wearing it yet, but you're gonna be.

SPEAKER_03 0:27

Let's do it. Let's go. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Let's do it. So today we have an interesting guest, our very own Megan from Lemonhead, LA. So she has a really interesting story about her business and many of her many, many stories, but I'll let her take it from here. But basically, she invented a product where she saw a problem, fixed the problem, and now people are obsessed with this product right here. I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

So, well, I don't know if I should just take it away.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

I don't know. Take it away. It's gonna be a real weird conversation. Take it away. You take it and then then we're gonna talk about your solepreneur to enterprise transition and how you're able to move from LA to Nashville and continue your business in LA. That's interesting and that's a huge deal. Most people cannot do that.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

I mean, am I really doing it? Well, we'll find out, right? So we'll we're gonna talk through it. Um yeah, well, I was I came from a background of c like several different backgrounds, but corporate cosmetics, um, being a professional makeup artist, being a professional wedding makeup artist. Um, I I mean, I got my degree in advertising and marketing, but I graduated in 2008. So that was right when the crash happened, and I had won an internship at an ad agency, and um, and I was so proud of that. Like, and so I was like, Oh yes, I'm like, I'm doing it. And I was there for maybe like, I don't know, a couple weeks, and uh then everybody was just started like it was just a really weird day, and the president like quit that day, and they had been, you know, saying, like, oh, we're gonna keep you on. So I hadn't applied to any other agencies because I was like, Oh, this is gonna be the agency that I'm gonna work at. I really wanted to be an art an art director. Um and yeah, it was just it was a really weird, it was this was in Chicago, and uh yeah, so it was just really strange, and all of a sudden everything was just very uncertain. Like the agency just shut down in the middle of my internship, but so did pretty much almost every other ad agency that wasn't, you know, the biggest one. Um and yeah, so I remember just kind of not knowing what I was gonna do. I was still in like a lease in my in my like apartment in downtown Chicago, and I was like, Well, this sucks. Um, and so I just started doing like really weird things. I started teaching myself whatever. I remember back in the day there was this website called lynda.com. And even though I had just graduated from college, like college pretty much taught me nothing. Yeah, it was so stupid. But I um I like got a subscription and I didn't even pay for it because I didn't have any money. But a friend of mine, his parents had a subscription to lynda.com, so he gave me the password, and I taught myself Microsoft Illustrator or Microsoft Adobe Illustrator, uh, Photoshop, um, like all of all of the main like creative suite type of stuff, at least enough to like know what I was doing. And then back then, I mean I I'm aging myself, but like we used to know HTML and we used to like code our own MySpace pages and we coded our own websites. Like we had like I had like a Geo Cities website in high school.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

I used to do that. I used to I was young on MySpace. I did all the years. I went there and put my music on.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Oh yeah, yeah. Your friends, your top friends, everything like that. So that's so cool. So I had this like we weird mishmash, like set of skills that was super random. And I was like, you know, cocktail waitressing, and then I'd be like doing this, and I was like building websites for people and just whatever I could do to like freelance. And then I was in Chicago. I was in Chicago and I was riding my uh riding an elevator up to my apartment, and there was like a man in the elevator wearing a Mac hat, like Mac cosmetics. And I was like, I love Mac. Like I've I've been I always like have done my my friend's makeup for prom and stuff. Like I love Mac. And he's like, Oh, do you want to work for us? Oh he's like, Well, we have freelance. Like talking to random people really opens up doors. Yeah, I mean, I don't do that anymore. I probably should, but um, but yeah, I mean honestly, it was just he was just wearing like a it was a baseball hat of all things too. It was like a Mac baseball hat. His name was Ben. I don't remember his last name, but thank you, Ben, wherever you are. Um, but yeah, I started freelancing for um for Mac, and and that was really fun. It was like right off of Michigan Avenue at the at the Nordstrom location um on Miracle Mile. And I just fell in love with makeup even more, but it was just something that was kind of fun to do. I didn't really I never thought of it as like, oh, this is gonna be my career. Um, but I stayed with them and then obviously like things weren't working out so well. It was 2008, it was a crazy time. So I ended up moving back to St. Louis, which is where I'm from. And I was able to keep my freelancing gig with Mac and St. Louis. Yeah, so I was able to like kind of go home with like something that I was still doing. And so I did that on the side. I helped my dad start um an a business of his that it was fun at the time. It was like a little wine, like a wine thing, like a w I called it a winery, but we didn't grow our own grapes.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

But it was like a like more entrepreneurial experience than just lemon head.

SPEAKER_00 5:36

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So I came like I was just kind of a jack of all trades, but a master of none. Yeah, if that makes sense. Um like I'm not really amazing at any one thing. I'm like pretty decent at a lot of shit though. Like it is what it is. Um and if I'm not, I it makes me mad and I get like in my head about it, and I'll be like, no, I want to learn that. So like now I'm gonna figure it out. Now I'm like a shitty gardener. Um I'm a shitty home designer now. I um shitty design.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Actually, you're a pretty decent gardener though. I mean, your stuff looks pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

I mean, I'm I'm trying to do that.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

That mint was wild.

SPEAKER_00 6:11

The mint? Did you like it?

SPEAKER_01 6:12

The mint? I mean, my mint looks pretty good. Your mint looks better than mine. Mine's been growing for three years. I was like, wait a second. But I haven't done anything to mine. Mine's just been growing.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

So but I keep like starting all these things. Like I want to know how to do everything, but that's just how my brain's always been, right? I think it might be I is it though? It's like it's kind of a crutch.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

It's it's fun, but it's a crutch too. I feel like a lot of business owners, like entrepreneurs, not just like ones who actually start something, they have random side quests throughout their whole life. They have random little interests. And they go, it doesn't help.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Instagram reels certainly doesn't help either because now it's like all of a sudden because I've done I mean sourdough, I went through different things.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

I'm in I'm in the banana bread now. I'm like making it.

SPEAKER_04 6:52

Is that more like a woman thing or a man thing?

SPEAKER_01 6:55

No, guys do it too. I think guys do I think guys do it. Guys do it, but they they do like grass, right? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Like you'll be like, oh now I'm obsessed with my lawn.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

And like you'll have to and then they'll want to do woodworking and build stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

Oh, so I bought like a bunch of saws and stuff too, because I was like, I can build my own table. Like I could build my own table. I'm gonna do this. Like, I'm not gonna buy that piece of furniture. I'm gonna so instead of buying the table that was like 300 bucks, I spent like $500 in tools and spent another $500 on materials.

SPEAKER_04 7:25

Cool. That's so cool.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

This is like literally the most important thing. And then and then four hours trying to do it, five hours trying to fix it.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

It's so bad. It's really so bad. But that's always been like the kind of brain I've had though. Yeah, and so I yeah, I was I was helping my dad with that for a while. And so, but that was a really weird thing. Like I would be bartending or serving, but I'd also be designing the menu and meeting with um meeting with the food people who'd come by and give us the samples of which which kind of things we liked and what we wanted at the restaurant, and then I would design um like graphic design the menu, and then I designed the website and the logo, and like all of these things, it was just sort of like, oh, this is fun, like little fun projects.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

And you know, which is kind of what being an entrepreneur is about, right? You get thrown random little pieces of the business that you have to just do.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

I think it's interesting at first to get started. I think what's cool about it though is that at the time you never know that that's like part of your plan. Like you never know that that's gonna be part of your story. You just think that you're doing something to survive, or you think you're like doing some random job that you just like needed to do, but you find out later in life like why that was given to you and like why that skill was put into your life because later it kind later you needed that somehow. Like, even the most random job I had was um selling selling office supplies. Like when I had moved home from Chicago, I mean I was desperate to just like do whatever. Oh wow, and um, so there's this weird job where like you would have to cold call essentially, not but not on the phone, like you'd have to walk in person into every business and they'd give you like a map, and it would be like a map, and you'd have to walk into every single store or business, and then you have to turn right at the end of wherever that street ended, and then you'd be that one and you would have to do this like a weird circle so that you'd hit every single business, and you'd have to walk in and sign people up for like this office supply subscription. Like an office supply thing, and you'd get them like a free ream of paper or something, and like I was like really good at it. But uh the thing is, is it's so like I don't think I could do that today.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

But it but I did it like then go and be able to talk to people. I could talk to anything that you have to have as a bigger and I was like not ashamed of because I was like, this is a great deal.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Like, yeah, some paper. You're gonna order paper anyway. Do you want to go to Office Max or do you like really like what if I just what if I just had it delivered to you and it saved you money? And they're like, okay. I'm like, oh you gotta sign up right now though.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

So what you're saying then is people should take their random odd jobs, weirdest chores. And for the children, yeah, if their parents are like, go clean out the garage, they should take it seriously and do it because they might use that skill later.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

They might find something cool in the garage.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

That's you, and they might, yeah, that's true. That's true.

SPEAKER_04 9:54

A question about that in those jobs, did you look at it like, oh, I can learn about sales in this job, or I can get myself.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

You were just doing it for No, I was I was just doing it for the money, and I was just doing it for our Did you ever have the budget?

SPEAKER_04 10:06

Like, man, I want to make like 30 sales.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

Like what is all like or like hey, I want to make I want to make this much money.

SPEAKER_04 10:14

Because kind of now, I find people that they they are out of college and they need a job and they say, Man, I'm not taking a job if I'm not making at least 70k.

SPEAKER_02 10:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:24

What do you would you like that too? Or do you like, man, I need a job, I need to make money, let me get whatever one.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

I think if I had graduated and I was like out in the workforce today, like 2026 is very different than 2009. Like it was very, very different. Um, I mean, even then, like now we're just bombarded with all this information and we're kind of judging ourselves based on what other people have, based on what we're seeing people on social media have. Um the ideas of like a 19-year-old being like, you get hit with a reel about a 19-year-old telling you how to start an AI business, and you're like, what kind of thing? Well, half of it's fake, too.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

I know. But the other half it's like, it's like keeping up with the Joneses times 5,000.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

But it's also like back back then, I remember my first like salary marketing job that I got was like for a dentist in St. Louis. I was so excited. I love that. And it was um $30,000 a year.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

And I was like, But that that was pretty decent in 2008. That was like what medium was probably like $38,000 back then. It wasn't great, but letting now it's like $50 something.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Oh, really? Yeah, like $54,000.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

Can I tell you how manipulated I was in this job though? Like, yeah, you're gonna love this because you do taxes, right? So they're like, I was like, Well, I was really hoping for like at least $36. And they go, Oh no, you don't want 36 because then you would be in a higher tax bracket. So you're actually gonna make more money if we pay you $30. And I was like, that's so interesting. Oh, that's hilarious.

SPEAKER_04 11:52

Did they tell you that? Did they tell you that?

SPEAKER_01 11:58

Like, I didn't know that. Like if you're in St. Louis, do they have state income tax?

SPEAKER_04 12:01

Yeah, they do that as Miss Tory, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Oh my god, it was it was stupid.

SPEAKER_04 12:06

And then you just believed it?

SPEAKER_00 12:08

Well, yeah, because I knew, I mean, I've heard of tax brackets before, but like you don't really like, and you're not thinking, let me Google this and see if it's true. I was like, oh, these people are experts.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

So I didn't know that like if it's 24%, and then you're paying 12% and then this percent up to like that dollar amount. Well, it's not like you pay that for the whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Well, the one thing I didn't know is like let's say that you're let's say that you're a dollar over whatever that tax bracket is. They told me that like all of it would be taxed at 100%. I didn't realize that only the one dollar was taxed at the higher percent. That's right. So like I should have pushed back. But these are again, these are things you do when you're yeah, it's called we call it st or I call it stupid tax.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

So like when you have to when you lose or or pay too much money for something because you're uneducated, stupid tax. Cool.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Yeah, anyway, so that was that was what it was. That was an interesting job. But anyway, we won't talk about that one. Um, but again, that taught me a lot too. That taught me um that was more so it taught me socially that um you could be really nice to everybody in the office, but people can still be against you for certain things, um, to not just blindly trust everybody that you work with, um, especially if there's people in positions that are kind of competitive with yours. Those are good skills. Um like it teaches you skills like that, which might not be a work skill, but it's a really good skill to have. It is um to be prepared.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Because I think people need to know, like you can anyone can be nice, right? But that's not gonna make you well liked. And oftentimes I feel like people who are more controversial or who have a really big sense of self, who are let who they're not as perceived or perceived as nice as often, but they're more liked because they have such a good identity, like they're very self-aware and they have a brand. That's a weird thing. When you're young, you're taught be nice, especially as a girl, like go and be nice to everyone, be friendly. Right. And then when you don't receive that same behavior, it's odd, especially when you're pretty. I think that has something to do with it too.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Well, let me just I will I will say this. I've been fired from like almost every job I've ever had. And I will tell you, and I am a very self-aware person, I did nothing wrong at like any of these places. They were always from other people feeling feeling threatened. And so, as somebody that's like now technically managing people, I will never treat anybody like that. And I think it happens to a lot of girls, and it does happen to um if they are, if you are a more attractive girl, if you have a manager who's like a jealous manager, or I worked with that dentist place, I worked with this weird guy that was like really like jealous competitively of me, and he would like he was like in the boss's like the owner's ear. It was like a husband and wife that ran it, and he's like, I think he likes her, and like stuff like in his ear. And so like I got fired because like it like freaked the and I'm like, I don't I've never even talked to this person, like I've never been in been, I've never even spoken to this person by myself. Like it was so I've had like these, I don't know, I'm sure for anybody that's watching this, a woman has been in some sort of situation where they can relate like that, but every time I've been like fired, I got something better the next time. But I've just I mean I've I've quit a few things, whatever, but I think ultimately what that was telling me is you're not supposed to work for anybody else. Yeah, like you need you march the beat of your own drum anyway, you follow your own rule book, like you you follow your heart and things, you're a good person, and like you're not supposed to be doing any of this. And it was the universe just continually putting me in educational but weird situations. Um, that honestly I just finally was like, I'm just gonna do it myself. Do something myself.

SPEAKER_04 15:32

No, and about that, I I would tell you this the older I get, and the more I get to know professional people and growing my career, I realize how much tougher, how much harder it's woman habit than men's. You know, it's definitely way harder.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

I don't like to play that hard, but it is true. I hate playing it, like you know I do. I I always try not to. I'm like, no, no, we have it easier in some ways too, though.

SPEAKER_04 15:56

That is true. I mean, but okay, let's get into this. I love this topic. Let's talk about this. So that is the thing. This is what I believe. Yeah. So, and this is where I come from. I was raised by a single mom, you know. My dad was just a woman. I serve.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Shout out to her.

SPEAKER_04 16:13

Yes, so now I feel in this whole thing about like you know, woman versus men and the country, I think there are differences. And I think like whenever you'll say, Oh, I never want to play this card, I think you'll defer to other people in other countries. But at least here in because in other countries, at least at least here in America, yes, you know, women can have couriers. In other countries, you go to a third world country, for sure, for sure. It's really tough. But that doesn't excuse you know that doesn't that doesn't excuse kind of the treatments in the in the workforce and all of that here. You know, definitely I I believe women have it way harder, you know. Even even like even you see it, like I think like not how many CEOs are mentioned.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

Well there's a lot more today than there ever has we're definitely moving into a more equal um direction. Yeah, but I mean you've experienced it, you've been with me and experienced weird situations, I'm like and things that men say. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:22

I'm like I don't want to be a man. I'm like no and no.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

Later Joaquin's like, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_04 17:30

Yeah, it's just I don't know, it's just it's just yeah, it's it's sad, you know?

SPEAKER_00 17:37

I will I will say there's a lot of like good or there's a lot of really terrible things that social media has done to the world and to um culture and to the relationships that we have with other people, but the one thing that are I should say one of the things that I'm grateful for about it is that the transparency it's forced people to have, like almost the fear of not being a shitty person. Like if any of those, like if any of those experiences I've had in my personal life in the past, if I were to like at the time, if tick if TikTok had it had a if I can't speak, if TikTok had existed at that time and I did a TikTok about it, the this these companies would have been blown up, they would have been going viral, I would have been getting corporate apologies left and right. Like if I had like at the time, and I think that that's just now the culture where it does kind of suck because we're all like not really living in reality anymore, but at the same time, it's also kind of forcing the fear of being called out is forcing people to be better in some situations. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Um well, and I mean, and this just the exposure of like, hey, this is happening and this is what it looks like, and people are realizing, oh wow, okay, so that's not okay, for one, which is wow, can you believe it? Right. It's actually terrible to say those things. And then for two, it's like opening up other people's eyes who maybe didn't see it for what it was, like other like guys who don't experience it firsthand and don't see it happening, because like maybe they're in the bathroom when the other guy's behaving that way, or maybe it's at the water fountain or something. And then I think they're seeing, okay, wait a second, they're not just crying wolf. I mean, some of them maybe are, right? But for the most part, these things are actually happening. And like my wife or like my daughter or my coworker, my boss, they're actually experiencing these things in real time. Well, we talked about okay, we talked about all like leading up to 2015 when you first started Lemonhead. So, what brought you to the realization, okay, we need to make a mess-free glitter? Sure.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

So so it kind of goes back to where where I was like back in St. Louis with like the makeup artist thing, right? And um I was doing those odd jobs. I ended up um I really loved makeup and I ended up starting my own makeup artist, like I don't want to call it like a company though. Like I had like a little LLC and I was like a wedding makeup artist, and so I was getting a ton of a ton of clients. I ended up working for Nordstrom as the beauty stylist for St. Louis, which was my favorite job to date, my favorite job I've ever had. I love it. It was so it was such a magical time. Like it was like when it was right before Instagram really came out. Um, it was like just the right amount of social media, it was like the right amount of connection with people being able to, I don't know, it was just really people finding trends, probably. It was really fun. Yeah, but like you used to still have that magical makeup counter experience. And like for me, like my job was to not like push any one product to people. I was actually trained by all the biggest makeup brands to be like an expert in all of them. Yeah. So that when somebody came to me, I loved I was obsessed. So when somebody would come to me be like, hey, what like moisturizer should I use? I wasn't getting like kickbacks from these different companies. I didn't it it didn't matter to me. I wanted them to be in the best thing, and so I'd like I'd be sending people home with like 15 different types of 15 different brands of of things. And I anyways, I just loved it. And then I was able to it's funny, I actually told um this is the first time I've actually like the first time in my life that women actually lifted me up in my career, and so I will never ever forget, um, I will never forget you, Holly, wherever you are. Um, but I interviewed for this position at at Nordstrom, not for the beauty stylist, I was I was promoted to that later, it was for NARS actually. And I um I I told them at the interview, I was like, I'm gonna work for you for two years, and in two years you're gonna move me to Hollywood. I'm gonna be a makeup artist in Hollywood. And they're like, okay, psycho. Um, but they're like, Well, we like her drive, like we like her ambition. And it took them, um, they moved me there in 22 months.

SPEAKER_02 21:39

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

Wow, so under your two, like I'm getting cold chills. Under your two year wow, that's impressive.

SPEAKER_04 21:45

Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 21:46

This is exactly what I told them. Yeah, so anyways, so like they believed in me and like they and it and it happened.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

And anyways, it was just really cool. It took a lot of hard work, and then plus that passion. I think when anyone has a passion for something, you know.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

Yeah, so so shout out. To Nordstrom. Um, I love them, they made my dreams come true. But so I made it to LA. And uh by that time, like I don't know, like when you're in corporate cosmetics and you're making kind of a splash and you're making a name for yourself, everybody kind of starts wanting you, right? So, like um different brands wanted me. I've worked for um after Nordstrom or went from NARS to you know to beauty stylist, and then we're from there. Um, Trish McAvoy like kind of stole me, and I became like a national artist for Trish McAvoy for a while. Um, after that made a splash, Codalie wanted me, which is which was really interesting because I moved to LA to be a makeup artist, and then I started feeling like like I was selling myself out. I still to date use Coda Lee. I think it's some one of the best skincare companies in the world. It's so well priced compared to other things, and it's just it just works. It just works, and it's cleaner ingredients. Well, and they have that scientist that um the guy that's literally in the news every other week for he's like inventing ways to live longer. David Sinclair from Harvard. Yeah, but he's their he's their scientists. I have no idea. Okay, but he um I met him in Paris. It was like he he's like amazing. So he's now this like ultra famous, he wasn't then, but this like ultra famous scientist now. He's like a Harvard scientist that have has discovered like basically how to make your cells stop dying. Yeah, it's pretty crazy. But he's their scientist for their skincare. Oh no, no, no, that's a different guy. I don't know who you're talking about. Okay, so that's what I'm trying to do. No, this guy's like an actual Harvard scientist. That guy's just like a what's he like life maxing or whatever he's gonna do. Yes, life maxing.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

That's exactly what that is.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

I know what you're talking about. No, no, no. This guy, this guy's really cool. He's like a genius. Um, but anyway, so I I love that brand. And um, and I'm like, well, I really sure I like it. But then I felt like I'm like, what am I doing? Like I it had a great salary, I loved the job, I was really, really good at it. Um, but I was like, I and I got to train. So I got to go into all these different makeup stores. I'd train the employees on like like the way I used to be trained, you know. Yeah. And I'd train them on like why this product's great and what it would do for you for the customers and everything. That was a really fun job. And I really, really loved it, but it wasn't what I moved to LA to do. And I was like, okay, I'm getting off course here because I moved to LA to be a makeup artist. Like, so what am I doing? I'm just am I just gonna take the biggest check that gets put in my face? And I think what I was I had this fear inside of me that it took me so long to get to LA, and I wanted to live in I wanted to live in Hollywood my whole life. Like since I was a little girl. Like in the first time I ever went to LA, I like literally knew my way around. And it was before, it was like during the map quest days, okay? So like I didn't have the map in my hand. I just felt like I had been there before. I felt like this was my destiny, what it was what I was meant to do. And um, and yeah, so when so when I finally made it there, I got really scared of failing and not being able to afford my rent, doing whatever. So I be I became like kind of a sellout. I started just taking jobs for the money versus for what the passion was and first.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

Which is probably really easy to do, like in a place like LA, right? When you're like surrounded by people with all of this money.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

That, but it was honestly, it was just I didn't want to go home.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

Yeah, I didn't want to go home.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

I wanted to be able to pay my bills and whatever, and I was like, I'll figure it out later. And I was like, this isn't what I was supposed to do. And so during that time, I became very like mad at myself, and so I really wanted to get back into doing makeup, and I realized that I had been very cocky, and my even because I was a very successful makeup artist in St. Louis, but my book sucked, like it sucked, and we call it our book, but our portfolio, whatever it sucked. Um, I mean the makeup was fine, but I'm I'm really great at doing people's makeup to make you look like the best version of yourself. Where I've always felt insecure is the kind of makeup artistry that like Pat McGrath does, or the kind of interesting makeup looks you see that like when they're not wearing mascara, but they've just got like on the runway. Like runway, like yeah, like uh like more avant-garde, more editorial makeup has always made me feel very insecure. Or like going to the I was beauty prom wedding, I was a wedding makeup airbrush makeup artist, and I'm like, my book sucks, like this sucks, and um there wasn't a lot of diversity in there. I was just like, I need to be a better one.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

It wasn't LA, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

It wasn't LA, it wasn't good enough for LA, it wasn't celebrity. Um I wasn't gonna get hired to go on tour with a celebrity, let's just say that. So I'm like, I need to like deep dive and start start over. I literally threw my book away and I started testing with um different agencies, like Will Amina was one of them, where they would send me on test shoots, and like I was just challenging myself. I'm like, I want to do weird makeup, and I wasn't good at it. I really wasn't good at it, and it was because of products like glitter, which I love the look of, but I hated it. It was terrifying to me. I was like, every time I touch it, it gets all over the place. If I do like a beautiful, let's say beautiful prom looking makeup, right? Or like beautiful complexion makeup, and I want to add glitter, all of a sudden it looks like like it's childish. They look like little kids. Like I am not good at this, and like the glitter glue would get like goopy and it would make the eyeshadow look disgusting. And it would just look it would just look like a mess. Like it would look like I messed up the makeup, and so I didn't want to touch it. And I'm like, I have to face my fears, and so I had all that. And I there was another job I worked at at the time too, which was um after Cotalie, I worked for a brand called Tata Harper, Amazing Skincare as well. Um, and that actually is a big reason why I think why I set up the systems I did because Tata Harper did everything from a barn.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

Literally made the skincare. They did everything, like is it called Top of Funnel, bottom of fun? I don't know. They did literally everything themselves. They printed on their own jars, they shipped themselves, they did everything from a barn in Vermont. And so I was like, well, like that just taught me something that was stuck in my head somehow. So literally, still to date, we do everything ourselves. Yeah, like we outsource very little. Um, we make everything ourselves. So we're jumping forward a little bit. But anyways, to to finish the story, I had I really just wanted to make something for myself that I could use on set that would be easier and that I wouldn't hate. So I started um using my knowledge of all this like new knowledge I had about skincare, right? Because I had been the last like two years like working with these skincare companies. And I I used a lot of what I knew and I just made like a base for myself. And then I'm like, well, I'm just gonna throw some throw some glitter in there and see if that works and if I could paint with it, and I could. And it wasn't like a gel though, it was like it was literally painting like thick not thick glitter because it's not thick, it's like it's it's like a product that never existed before, but it's like uh it just looked like you had foil on your skin, like it was completely opaque, but thin, and it sat right against the skin, and it would hold on, and I could sculpt it with a brush or a um a clean spoolie, whatever, and I could shape these really intricate designs with it, and I'm like, okay, now we're talking. Like now I feel like I can do some cool shit.

SPEAKER_03 28:57

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

And I would take it to set, and these artists that I was like assisting at the time were like, What is that? I'm like, Oh, I just made it. They're like, Okay, well, we're gonna need more of that. And honestly, it just it was like a buzz, it was like a rumor essentially that like spread like crazy in the makeup artist, like the celebrity makeup artist community, and everybody wanted it, and so I just started making more and giving it to people on Facebook.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

So just giving it to them, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:24

And then there was a need, fill a need. Yeah, so but then I had, you know, like I told you, I had that I've made websites before, right? So I was like, well, I'll just just make a website, whatever. Somebody wants to order it, they can. Um, and it started kind of there, and then and then it was really crazy. I had dropped it. I used to, like I said, cold call, right? I used to go in. This is why I'm still like kind of realizing all these little steps that happened that like that that transpired into this, into my story. But the way I would walk in to like sell people paper, I was literally walking into every salon in Hollywood and being like, hey, I made this. Like, if your artist want to use it, that would be awesome. Just let me know and I can always get you more. And I would just drop it off at like all the free samples, uh-huh, like strike, and like there's like all of these different, like really like the biggest like hair salons and in LA. And because at the time it was lemon head, it was like more glitter for your hair. Oh, so it was before I really like thought, like, oh, I need to make this more of like an eye product.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

Yeah. Um, so so it was made for your hair then to do design. Hair and skin, hair and skin, yeah, for sure. Um and then, but at the time when you were dropping off these samples, were you like, okay, cool, this is a brand that I'm establishing now?

SPEAKER_00 30:33

Or were you like this is like what happened? It was kind of like let's just see what happens because I had that safety net of having that other that other corporate job, you know, with like the nice check. Like I had that safety net, but um, I don't know, I just really loved this and I was really like excited about being able to. I really just wanted to be a makeup artist, and I was hoping that it would help my makeup, that it would help my makeup career. I wasn't even thinking of it like it this is its own brand or its own business. Yeah. So when I first had to come up with a name, I didn't even know what to call it. I um and I didn't have a logo. Like at the time, I was like, I just tried like the first, this is before like weed was legal, and I had just tried like the first like medical, like I got my medical card, you know? And and like I had tried California, so that's hilarious. And so I was like doing these weird, like I would draw you without looking at the paper, and it would end up looking like super cool and weird, and then I would watercolor it, and I was making these weird, like drawing watercolor things, just like whatever. It's like a thing on my time because I'm a weird artist. But um, I had this one really weird-looking one of my dog, and I was telling my friend, I'm like, I don't have a logo, and they're like, You should just use that ugly painting of Stella, and I was like, Okay, so I did, and like that was my logo for the first two years, like, and so and that paired with this like ugly font that said lemon head was just like really intriguing to people. They're like, What is that? Like, what is this? Because like lemon head could be like a candy, it could be like anything, right? I think it's just a lot of it, like I never sat for a long time and thought about like what do I want to call this? Like, I never thought that this was gonna like be a thing. But like, where did lemon head come from? Came from a lot of different uh came from a lot of different directions, I think. Like it was a nickname I had when I like was in like lemon or lemon head? Lemonhead. Oh, because I got well, I got made fun of when I dyed my hair blonde for the first time in school in seventh grade. So like that was called that. But um, so that it was always in the back. But then I also had like I mean, I also love the 90s, right? And like the nostalgia of 90s and like yeah, like this lemon head, yeah. I mean, I won't say that that inspired it, but I will say that it probably didn't not inspire, you know, like it just but it was more that I had this the thing for the hair. So I was thinking head and thin. I'm like, ha, lemon head. Like you can call themselves lemon heads if they wear it huh. Like it was literally like I it was literally like that's kind of where it started. And um, and then I thought about like changing it, and I'm like, eh, it kind of works. It's like weird and whatever, sure. I like it. Um, but again, I never made a business plan. It's been 10 years, I still don't have a business plan. Yeah, this product was so viral. This product was so new. This product did not exist. Um, now there's a bunch of knockoffs, so it's kind of hard if you've never heard of my brand before and you're like, it's just glitter gel, it's it's not. It's very, it's very different um than traditional glitter gel, which is usually very wet, kind of goopy. Even if it does dry on the skin, it you don't get a lot of payoff, you don't get a lot of like brilliance with it. It's usually like not cosmetic grade glitter. Like this is this is very different, um, a very different product. So whatever.

SPEAKER_01 33:39

Um yeah, and I've used your product on my daughter, remember? So yeah, my daughter had a this is an ad break. No, I'm kidding. This is like actual real experience. So my daughter had a dance recital and I used it. She loves glitter.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:52

Um, she was four almost five at the time, and now she's obsessed with it. And for her, she's like really picky. She's and I don't normally do makeup on her because I mean she's full or she's five now. Yeah, right. But she had a dance recital, like, okay, this is gonna be fun. We'll do the glitter, and it was so easy. Like, I don't do makeup, like I can barely put makeup on myself. So, like, it's hard. If you've never done it on someone else, it's so hard. But I like put it on her and it was so easy, the easiest, and it did not get in her eyes, which that I was afraid of that, but because like it held on so well to get the glitter held on because of the paste, yeah. It was it was so easy. Well, it didn't get in her eyes, and it was so easy to come off later. Yeah, like so that's and like there was not glitter everywhere, which was amazing. Well, that's and she loved it.

SPEAKER_00 34:35

She didn't like it didn't feel heavy on her eyes. So that's the that's what made people really love it. So, yes, I made it for makeup artists, like professional makeup artists, to use on set so that they wouldn't, so that it was there was something easier, right? Um, it was it was really made for me because I was like, I suck at this, like I need something to be better. But I also was like, I'm not gonna put my name on something, I'm not gonna put something out there that is messy. If I'm if I'm gonna say, like, if I'm gonna make something like easy to apply, it's gotta be easy to remove as well. So it is like um water resistant, it is um, it does stay on all day. I was like, it literally unless you don't want it to. And if you don't want it to, it comes right off with a damp cloth. If you don't, like you can honestly jump in a pool and get out of the pool and it would still be there. If you're under the water and you do this, it comes off in one second. So it's just a matter of like how if you want it to be there, it will be there. It'll be your best friend. If you want it to go away, it's and it didn't move.

SPEAKER_01 35:33

Like for her, she's dancing, right? And she was in two different sets. So she's dancing on stage and she's a kid, so she's like rubbing and doing stuff. And like she still had perfect, and I had like a little beyond. She had like perfect glitter eyes.

SPEAKER_00 35:44

I love that. And like feedback too from makeup artists, the reason makeup artists like it is because they can trust that they can do a makeup look on somebody, right? And then if they have like a red carpet thing the next day, they're not gonna find little pieces of glitter all over because it's glitter that's completely controllable. And so I knew my formula was good, but I honestly didn't know, like, I didn't have all the talking points about it. Though that all of these things I've learned about my product have come from artists that tell me how great it is. And um in the beginning, because I'm like, well, I knew it was good, but I didn't know it was that good, or like I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

Okay, I just made it for me to use like for my job.

SPEAKER_00 36:21

Literally, and so like that's why I'm that's why I always joke with you. I'm like, I'm literally the worst CEO because I did not I didn't earn my position, you know. I didn't climb a corporate ladder to get to where I was. But those are the best.

SPEAKER_01 36:35

You invented and created, you solved the need.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Well, not just that, but also everything else that goes along with it, right? Like it was really intimidating. It was really intimidating to get my first store. It was really um the store that would carry the product and gave me the first check that gave me the courage to quit my job. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 36:53

Thank you, Nigel's. I want to hear that story. First, I want to hear we I we missed a spot. I want to hear when you were like, okay, I'm gonna sell like my first jar, my first like I want to hear where that transition went from like gifting, like handing out to all of the different artists, all the places. Yes, yes. So to where you're like, all right, I'm selling.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

So I was driving around, dropping product off um around LA, and I took it to a place called 901, which is a salon in Beverly Hills. Okay and um there's a the main uh hairstylist there, her name is Rihanna Capri. And I dropped it off a box of like I think at that time I had eight colors. I don't even think I had made space paste yet. I think it was just space jams, like my first, no, maybe even five colors, my first five colors there. And uh they were like space jam is a blend of like, you know, up to 50 at this point, up to 50 different types of cosmetic glitters in one pot. So it's like a look in a jar um that it's like a pre-design look for you look for you. Hair, skin, wherever you want to wear it, that's fine. So I had those five five jars, dropped them off, they called me because I like like put a little business card in there and they called me, they're like, What is this? And we need more of it. We're going to Coachella tomorrow. I was like, Oh, and what year was this? 2016.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 38:08

And um, I'd started making the product November 2015, and so this was April 2016. So it was um, and it was just something I was doing on the side, you know. So but when this happened, they're like, We have a big tour bus we're taking to Coachella, and we're doing a bunch of celebrity like hair there. Yeah, um, we would love, can you make us like 50 more jars? I didn't have 50 jars, so like I went back to the jar store. I went back to like a glitter store, like a like a like at that point, honestly, it was a craft store. So like some of the glitters were cosmetics, some weren't, which was fine at the time because it was for hair, not your eyes, whatever. Um, now it's all cosmetic grade. But I was like, I need this, I need this, like I need all of these things, right? So I sat and I that night I had it back to them all 50 jars by like 10 p.m. And they went to Coachella the next day and it was in InStyle magazine the day after that. And it was like a company called Lemon Head out of Los Angeles. So I'm like, so like I had my little website side, you know, set up and like I got my first few orders, and like I had my Instagram, which at the time was like we were one of the first like indie startup, like I call it crowdsourced beauty companies on Instagram. Yeah, and I mean if this had been if this had been TikTok, okay, like we would have been the biggest brand on TikTok. But at the time, like I mean, with the I say that because I my energy back then, like my like my excitement, my my I was so into it. So I'd be on live every single night on Instagram live, like mixing colors with people being like, what should I call this one? Look what this one can do. It's glow in the dark. Like, like what name do you like more? Like it was so fun, and like I had this community that I was building, like slowly but surely, and I've never paid for followers or anything like that. Everything was always just like we love watching the story unfold. Yeah, and so it was really cool like that for the first for the first couple years. Um, I remember the day in 2017, early 2017, the day I got my 500th order. So like we weren't like we weren't like killing it off the bat, right? Yeah, but the day I got my 500th order, um I got my uh I want to say my 1500th order on the same day. So we had a thousand orders in one day um because it had gone viral on Facebook. You know, back in the day, those companies, those like media companies, they used to like find videos and chop them up and put them into these like longer videos and they'd be like promote things because they just needed like viral content. So at the time I had been squeezing, it looked like poop, but like squeezing, like I guess like cake frosting is probably better. Um but it was like squeezing into the into this jars, like squeezing these glitters into this jars, and everybody was just so captivated by these videos. So they took a bunch of these videos, like ASMR, yeah, like visual ASMR, yeah, exactly. Um, and so they they were they took a bunch of my videos and then they would like promoted the brand, whatever. So that went viral, got like 50 million views on Facebook.

unknown 41:02

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 41:02

Jeffree Starr saw the video and ordered it himself. I never saw the order come through, but like it he had made the order and then did a video and was like, it's Jeffree Star approved. This product's awesome. It was like him and Laura Lee. Wow, just like blew the brand up from there. And ever since then, it's kind of been like a viral moment after viral moment after viral moment. Like we'll have like these lulls, but then something crazy will happen, then lull, then something crazy, then Beyonce will wear it at Coachella, and then it'll dip down again. But then now it's the main glitter on euphoria, and then it'll dip down. And so, like, it's just had this crazy like thing where as soon as I'm trying to catch up to it and I feel like I'm caught up, something happens again. So, like, I've still, like I said, I've it's been 10 years. I've never made a business plan because this product has a life of its own. I'm not pushing this product, I'm chasing it. And it is so good in that sense. Like, it's the number one reviewed glitter. Everybody loves this product. Like, we our customers will start with one color and then they'll get like all of them, which is why we ended up making like the this the cases, and we're the first professional glitter palette that was on the market. Like, and but now we're not just in glitter. I I created the world's first mess-free body sparkle spray as well. So we're we're we're branching out that, yeah. We're branching out, but it's been a crazy 10 years, and yeah, and now it's been, I guess, the crazy, crazy um last two years now that I'm not in LA anymore. But but yeah, it's it's just been a really fun, it's it's been a wild ride, and I would be I would have given up so long ago if it weren't for those amazing people I told you about that work for me that have been with me since we were making the product in a garage. Um shout out to all to shout out to them, like shout out to Eden, Michaela, like everybody that has just been like my ride or dies. That have trusted me in my crazy vision and and like I don't know. I'm not the easiest person to work for. I'm not like mean or anything. I'm just like kind of inconsistent, I'm kind of erratic. I'm a little bit like I get these crazy ideas, but then the next day I won't even remember like what I was talking about the day before because I was just like, oh, I've got this amazing thing. Like, let's let's go do this. And then the next day they're like, okay, I did this. I'm like, what did you do? Like, why'd you do that? That's hilarious. So it's not always like that, but um, but you know, again, trying to manage and do all of this with like all the pressure also is also really hard. I don't know if you feel like my mine's a bit different than yours because I'm have I've kind of been forced to be in the public view a bit more because you have to make the content and you have to be the founder and you have to be the face of this, which I really What do you think we're doing right here?

SPEAKER_01 43:38

I know, I I know, but I know. But no, no, it it is. There's like a there's a pressure. And having well, I kind of give myself pressure, I think, but having a business partner kind of eases Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:48

What is what is the pressure about? Like pressure to be in public, pressure to keep money coming in?

SPEAKER_00 43:55

It's m well, sure, it's multifaceted. There's definitely the pressure I put on myself. Um, but there's also the pressure of like for example when my I think my brand would be wildly different if we had had a bit of a different start in the beginning. Like I think I would have done something much different, like I would have come out with a bunch of different product and stuff like that. But in the beginning, the the product and the formula was literally so new, it had never been done before the way I was doing it that I would um like we started getting c a lot of copies. So there was a really big brand that is uh I would sc I would call it without naming them like a fun, a fun makeup brand that's like more affordable, that's also LA based. That but they uh I had found that their re like their the people that do the RD had ordered from me. I didn't know this at the time, but they ordered every color and they reverse tried to reverse engineer it and they copied and um took one of the influencers that had been using our product a lot and had him be the face of their launch of their new innovative product that had never been done before. And then when I called them out on it, there was already like uh a campaign ready to go to attack me and like try to hurt me. And I'm like, I'm literally just a girl that works in my garage making glitter. Like, why are like this is crazy? So, like I kind of learned firsthand, like, don't F with the billion dollar companies. But ever since then, like it's been copied by so many major, major brands, and it's still never like we're still number one. So, like at this point, I can't complain about that anymore. I can't be like, hey, we're we're doing something new that's never been done before. Because now at this point, it has been done before by a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 45:41

But we are I didn't know. And I think that that kind of showcases like your success though, having big brands copy you.

SPEAKER_00 45:48

It it does at this point, but at the time I it didn't feel that way. At the time, it really felt very like personal and it felt very scary.

SPEAKER_01 45:55

That's your baby. You created that. That was yours.

SPEAKER_00 45:58

It really was. Um yeah, it really was. And so it but the pressure comes from I felt like I would be a hypocrite if I had come out with another product that had existed before, right? So, like let's say I did some like an like a sparkly eyeshadow that was like a more subtle color of the glitter. Well, sparkly eyeshadows existed before. I could literally hear these voices in my head that were like my like haters, right? Like it was like I have my own, I have my own haters in my own head that are like literally calling me out for being like a hypocrite for doing something, and I'm like, I haven't even done it yet. But it's like I'm not gonna create a red lipstick, it's been done before. Well, I thought you don't do things that have been done before. Like it's literally your voice in my head.

SPEAKER_01 46:39

I mean, which is which has been really successful for you, right?

SPEAKER_00 46:41

But like it has like your artist grain of it's held me back a lot. It's held me back from from stretching the brand where it should have gone, which is I've now seen a couple other big major brands that I have huge respect for go and take their brand in the direction that I that I probably should have taken mine in because it's been 10 years and I'm still only making glitter. But it also But I'm also one person with a couple employees, you know?

SPEAKER_01 47:05

Yes, and it separates your brand and then like your follower, your cult that you created, they know what they can expect from Lemonhead. When Lemonhead comes out with a new product, it's a new product. I know it's not gonna be a dupe or a copy.

SPEAKER_00 47:19

There are like really cool, there are really cool things that I could do that would be like our own version of that, right? That would be really cool. But I think the thing that's also held me back isn't just the pressure, but it's literally logistics. So almost every other brand, every other cosmetic brand hires another company to make the product, they are then they're they're essentially a marketing company, right? They're an RD, and a lot of them do come up with their own formulas and they'll hire a lab, but it's their idea. They'll have an idea, they'll hire a lab to do it. That to me is super original. But like when you're actually working in cosmetics and you actually go to these trade shows and stuff, there are literally booths set up from these different manufacturers, and they're like, here's our selection of what of our new innovations. And it's like, you know, a cre let's say it's like a jelly creamy cheek thing, right? And you're like, well, that's really cool. What's your minimum quantity? Oh, it's 20,000 pieces. Okay, and I can split that between oh, up to five colors. Okay, so I have to order, I have to order like that many colors of each. Okay. And then then they're like, and here you can put it whatever package you want it. And then all of a sudden, six months later, you see 10 different cosmetic brands come out with this jelly cheek thing that ranges anywhere from like e.l.f. pricing, you know, of being like four bucks a pot to like Dior pricing. I'm not saying that those are the two companies that did it, I'm just saying two, you know, yeah, that there are two wildly different, like a $48 one and it's literally the same thing. And I'm like, I will never do that. Like, I'm not gonna be a brand that does that, but the ones that do that make so much money. Well, yes, but then they make it but you're still setting yourself apart from those, like I know, but so standardized different for us is we actually make every we make every jar of glitter by hand. So like to cut to to cut to the change, I probably should have said that an hour ago. But like we are actually, we still today, 10 years later, make every jar by hand. And because of that, we don't have all this time in the world to to do this RD and branch the the brand out and and go in these different directions. I think that I probably should have gone, but I probably I I still want to, and I'm starting, you you can see that I'm starting to, I'm finally starting to. Um but yeah, we make every single glitter thing ourselves and the palettes we make in-house, and not only that, like this is a palette that only has 16 shades in it, but we have other palettes. We have two other palettes that have 24 shades each. Each shade can have from two glitters to up to 50 glitters. Each one of these shades is like an entire production day up to an entire production week per shade. So once we get those bulk made, and we only have two giant mixers. So imagine this every time you make a glitter that's this color, you have to clean the machine so well that when you make this glitter, yeah, not a piece of dark glitter is gonna be in there. So like when we say we're perfectionists, like we are we are like psychopaths about making the best quality glitter in the world. Um, if we hit we're doing like a million units, we'd probably get its own machine per color so that we didn't have to be so insane. But it shows like how well we care about the cleanliness, how much we care about like our facility and taking care of it and our quality control speaks volumes compared to compared to other things um out there. So, but yeah, it's it's a it's a labor of love, truly. And the people that work for me are also just obsessed with what they do. I make sure that everybody is so well taken care of, like you said, you provide amazing benefits. Um, people that work for me know that they could come to me with anything, and I'm gonna come, I'm gonna listen to them with like a big heart, and I'll understand. My my biggest priority of making sure my company succeeds is making sure my people are happy. And not only that, but obviously caring a lot about what we do and making sure the quality is there. So it I came from a weird place. I came from this like mishmash, right? It's just I wear so many different hats, but it's it's as an entrepreneur and CEO, you do have to wear a lot of hats.

SPEAKER_01 51:11

Yeah, yeah. You said something interesting so about your people, and I think your people have like really pushed your brand to the level that it is. I mean, you two obviously, but because they were able to be there and create that high-quality product and be there and be as detailed and clean the machines as they should and all the materials and everything, right? Because I think people are the hardest part about business, and we talk about this a lot on here. It's so it's really hard to find great people, and it's hard to find companies who will take care of great people, right? So it's really it's a unique combination when you have a business owner or a CEO who's taking really good care of their people, and the people are taking really good care of them, and it's reflected like right there in the product, like you said, right?

SPEAKER_00 51:52

Yeah, and I mean that like what you touched on something like that, they take care of me just as much as I take care of them. So, like two years ago, I made a very impulse decision to leave Los Angeles, which was we won't get in, we don't have enough time for that. But um, but it's because I became a mother and I have a baby, and um I even though I lived in a like I wouldn't say it wasn't like I was living in Bel Air, but like I lived in, you know, a nice part of North Hollywood in in Los Angeles. It wasn't like it was a nice area, but it was still I'd be getting these notices on my phone, like man on the loose with machete at a 0.1 miles away at CVS. I'm like, I can't take it anymore. And it got to the point where my fear and my anxiety got so bad that I stopped taking my dogs out, so I put like a dog run on my roof, and because I had like one of those like tall, skinny homes, you know? And not only that, but the stairs with the baby, the stairs with the dogs, and like I would just I wasn't even walking them anymore. I would just like have go to the roof, go to the roof, and I'm like, this is not a way to live. Like, I feel like I just wanted my son to play in the dirt, and I'm like, where's dirt in the park where there's freaking needles everywhere? Like, I just I mean, I love Los Angeles. Uh, if you if we had more time and we had weeks to talk about this, I would literally tell you the story of how I named every single color. I mean, just looking at some of these, so like CLO is CLO dry from the Manson murders, but nobody needs to know that actually. But I'm just saying, like, little things, like I love Sharon Tate, but um, but it also means heaven, right? And that's like the place, like it truly just LA felt like heaven to me for so long. It was my dream, right? Sunset strip. Isn't it funny how Boogie Knights vibes, right?

SPEAKER_01 53:28

When you have children, you know.

SPEAKER_00 53:29

Yeah, like Houdini, the Houdini Mansion. Not only I mean now you see it, now you don't, but like the Houdini mansion driving down Laurel Canyon. Like, there are these just like Mulholland is our like rose gold, and it's like I would just go drive to get to like anytime that I felt weird or sad or anxious or whatever, I would just drive on Mulholland and like park and look over at the city and like look at the lights. And so, like every one of the stories that I have are every one of the names of my of my colors, they're a story from my heart and they're a story from my life. TikTok thread on this. I thought about it, yeah. Um, but like Melrose, the one that we're both wearing today. Like this was designed by um by us with Violet Gray, which is like the creme de la crème makeup store in the world. Like they're like the highest end makeup store, and they designed this color with us. Um, it was like a really, a really cool thing that we did, but it's uh they're on Melrose Place in in you remember the show too, in like the 90s, right? So like there's all of these little things. It is a love story, so it was very hard for me to leave, but I just like I am so lucky to be. I mean, I'm old now, but I grew I'm so grateful that I got to grow up when I did without technology and then also with it. So like I remember being in middle school when AOL Instant Messenger came out, like and then like did high school, like we just you know, it was all screen names, and like we got the first cell phones with Snake on it, and like that was the perfect amount of technology where we were still able to have a childhood and still um were able to like be the innovators of it, right? Like because we're gonna be able to do it. We're like have your creativity, so we're yeah, like it was so fun. But I was like, where is the place I can go that one I could still run my business from? They have to have some sort of like they have to have some sort of entertainment thing going on there. Yeah. I hate New York City, can't pay me to go there anymore. It's just not for me, it's just not my place. Um, but but yeah, I'm like LA and like really the only other option is Nashville, which is close enough to St. Louis. So I'm a driving, you know, I went a half a day's drive from my family. Um, and then you know, just outside of Nashville, you just have a bunch of land and you can you can just be a kid, and it's I just I just want that from for my child and honestly for my soul. I think it's it's helpful for me too. But it is really a challenge to to um to run a business remotely. It's so it's very, very hard, and I'm I'm getting better at it, but the last two years, like my my girls have been like honestly, they've been they've been the CEOs, right? And I've just been this kind of like final decision maker, more of like a CEO. I've been more of just like, hey, final approval, or hey, how does this look?

SPEAKER_01 56:06

And so it's almost like you force yourself. So like that right now we're kind of focusing on bringing entrepreneurs in, right? And talking about their process from solepreneur to enterprise. So solepreneur is when you're by yourself in your garage coming up with this idea. Right. And then enterprise is like when you have a successful foundation, a business that's running itself to an extent, right? Maybe you're making the decisions as a CEO. Right. So that move kind of fast-tracked that process for you then because it gave you no other choice but to relinquish some controls to some employees. Which is really, really hard for me. And I'm it's really hard for a lot of people that are yes, that are like us. When when you create something from scratch, that's yours.

SPEAKER_00 56:45

So yes, it's very well that the hardest thing again, like you said, is finding the right people because nobody will ever care about it as much as you do. Never, and they'll never be as good as you are at because it's yours. But my pe my girls right now, they do. They do. I won't say every single person because I have like you know, freelancers as well that come in and they help fill and stuff like that. But the people that are like my that that are by my side, my core, love it as much as I do, if not more. Like they are just wonderful and they're irreplaceable and they know that. So be on your best behavior um if they're watching. But uh no, they know that and they know how much they're loved and appreciated. And um, and that's why it's so weird whenever people talk about like if if somebody's like on TikTok or they talk about like the company and like I don't know, they talk about the owner of the company. I'm like, I am literally barely at this point part of the company. Like my company is literally all of our customers who have made the company what they are. They're all of the artists that I we I get to live vicariously through. That like I don't get to be that makeup artist I dreamt of being anymore. Like that dream's done. But maybe I was never supposed to be. I was supposed to create something for other makeup artists that that are actually that do have naturally have that talent, that creative, that I, you know, that like that that New York Fashion Week style of makeup where that editorial talent, I just don't have it. But I made something that makes it so much easier for people to do. And I get to live my life like through like their, I get to like see the art that they create that like I had a part in making, and that's like huge for my heart. Like my my glitters have been on every celebrity you can even think of. I could just like you could have like a collage in the background, I could throw a dart and it would hit somebody that it's been on. I mean, it's been on Bad Bunny, like it's been on Janet Jackson, Iggy Pop, like Lady Gaga, Lady Gaga, Lady Gaga and I collabed on this on Mel Rose too. So that was um, well, she launched her brand House Labs with this on her website. Oh wow, yeah, like to it was us, and then she had another brand that did lashes, like paper lashes, yeah, and um and plastic. They it was a really cool brand. Um, but they yeah, she had Mel Rose on her site for sale when House launched, and it was really pretty. I do like this one. It's the best it's her favorite, and that's why she wanted it. But I mean, literally just like pinch me moments, you know, where it's like just make glitter in my garage, and like how did it get to here?

SPEAKER_03 59:10

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 59:11

I love that.

SPEAKER_01 59:11

Well, okay, let's so let's talk more about the move. So, how did you like set yourself up for success like foundationally before you moved, or do you feel like you did? Um, I've always got to be like, Because before you moved, you were there every day with the glitter, like making, doing, managing, sourcing. Um, or did you slowly like maybe during pregnancy or something started kind of stepping away?

SPEAKER_00 59:34

Yeah, when I got when I got pregnant and I was like, okay, if I don't have a family now, like I got pregnant when I was 37. So um, like if I don't like focus on family now, like this isn't gonna happen to me.

SPEAKER_01 59:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:48

And so I definitely checked out mentally, which wasn't the most fair thing to do to to my team, but I tried to be there as much as I could, and they were very I think they liked having the responsibility more. They liked like not as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:02

Like maybe having those people like good people who could take it. Yeah. And did you did you have good processes set up that you understood and knew how everything worked before? That's the thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:11

So that's the thing that I've always tried to do is if I teach a process, like I I basically create processes that if I'm not there, this is exactly it's like as if I was. But at this point, that's how it used to be. So at this point though, I finally have people who are smarter than me in some to make which is so which is so important as as an entrepreneur to not to make sure you surround yourself with people who so that you're not the smartest person in the room. Because if you do, you're never gonna get anywhere. You have to be um willing to be like, hey, I'm not the best at this, and and and bring people into your life that are smarter than you in different ways because it's it's just gonna help you grow. Um that was a lesson I had to learn because I mean, like like everybody else, you you're born with an ego, right? And you have to kind of learn to control it. Entrepreneurs have the biggest one, apparently. I know. We're down on the street. I know. So so that that was hard, but yeah, just that process, it was gradual. It wasn't it could it couldn't have been overnight. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:16

So during pregnancy, that's kind of that kind of provoked it or started it, right? For sure. And then you gradually, but at the time in your head, were you like, okay, I'm teaching, I'm doing giving away these things so I can move or so I can be a mom, or was it just a more of a natural?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:31

I think it was it was a bit natural. I think that um falling in love and starting a family forced me to get it out of my like immediate house, like out of the garage, right? And then from the garage, we had uh a duplex, and I lived above the duplex, and it was like the the bottom duplex was the office and the top duplex was my house. And then when I moved to the place that like the last place I lived in LA, the um half the house was office. We um converted the garage again. So we kind of went back into the garage, converted the garage again um into like a clean room. This looked like Dexter's murder room essentially. Um, and we're and and this like forced me to be like, okay, we need a warehouse. Like this is crazy at this point. Like, we need to just do it. And so I got this amazing, like, 2,000 square foot warehouse in North Hollywood that was like 10 10 minutes from my house, and everybody started going there. It was a cool space that we were able to split half and half. So well, actually, I I totally forgot about the thing. First, it was a thousand square foot, and then the neighbors, the people next to us moved and we got the two thousand square foot space. So at first it was smaller, but then we got into a space where we could split it to where half of it was admin, the other half was um was all production. And because of that, since I wasn't at my house anymore and it wasn't like I wasn't directly into it, I eventually got less and less controlling, I think, over what it was, and I was able it kind of forced me to trust the people that were in those roles and in those positions um to like do their job and not being there every single day. So like I wouldn't be at the office every day. I would try you know, I started that's when I started doing like more decision making from from where I was at.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:16

But and being do you think you that led you to being more proactive for your business? Because I I know earlier you said you're chasing your brand, but I think what you mean by that is you're chasing the momentum that the brand brings on. But do you feel like you're more proactive or became more proactive? Instead of being like, okay, let's catch up, like let's fulfill this order. You became like, okay, let's make a decision. Should we use this supplier or this supplier?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:38

Well, I've always been like that. Um, it's been, I think that for because this was also during COVID. So this was all happening during COVID too. So this was uh we thought COVID might like kill the brand, but COVID, we'd never been more successful because people were sitting at home doing makeup.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:54

People, yeah, e-commerce, because you you do, I mean e-commerce. It was like it was shocking. I was like, and then the e-commerce world exploded though, and lots of businesses and went bankrupt.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:03

It shifted, it shifted our mentality of what who our business was for. Like, you know, in the beginning it was for pros. I made I made my product for prof prefer for professional makeup artists, and COVID and TikTok and the launch of TikTok just really taught me that you can let go of that identity. Like it's really it was hard for me, but I'm like, you don't have to be a pro brand anymore.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:28

Like your brand is consumer so easy and it's consumer from makeup artists high quality to easy for use for someone who doesn't do makeup, like Joaquin. Yeah, who's never touched makeup in his life.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:41

Yeah, so it's it's just it's just it's such a fun consumer product. And I didn't you could have told me that, but it was really the people on TikTok that showed me like new fun ways to use my product and not just like using it to go out and do something because before COVID, people would actually go out, people would go to the bars, they would go and have fun, and like maybe people still do that in Nashville, but nobody goes out in LA anymore. Like it's just a complete shift. So it went from like getting ready to doing your makeup to go out, to doing your makeup to film yourself, and and it shifted, it shifted this thing now, and then you know, for for the past 10 years in 2016, if you were a makeup artist, you were like a makeup artist. But in 2026, like everyone's a makeup artist, and I think it's awesome. Like like everybody is self-taught. There's a millions of hours of makeup tutorials on YouTube at this at this point and on TikTok, right? And I'm like, this I don't need to just like be in this box where I'm pushing this to pros. I can really get this product out there and and let it grow legs and see where it goes and like make it more consumer friendly. So we started bringing in like different types of creators and we started sending product to different types of creators to see like, what are you gonna do with this? Like, go crazy, go have fun, you know? And it has been So much fun. And the one thing I will say is that for the past for the past 10 years, we have not ever, not once, ever paid for content. I've never paid an influencer to make a video. I've paid for a couple people to do a campaign for us where it was like specifically do this campaign, we're gonna get this many videos or this many photos so that we can use it on the website, stuff like that. That was more for like photography and not like a promo video, hey, here's some money, do a story. So not once. So our our our popularity and our reputation is a hundred percent organic, which I'm really proud of, and that's very rare. But it's also kind of stupid. It's also kind of stupid of me because how have we not until this year we're finally focusing on um on affiliates and on like I don't wouldn't even say influencers, I would specifically say affiliates, like people who's who are they have they have quit their job, they're sitting at home, their job is to make other brands money, their job is to sell products, earn commission, make creative stuff, like get it.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:01

I don't know that gifted was the right word though, because that just shows how good the product is because it organically was able to grow and sustain itself.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:10

I think that we're just kind of late to the game of it. And uh, but I will say it's not because I didn't find it important, it's because I didn't have enough manpower. I only have like I'm only able to do so much, and I also only know what I know. And I kept hiring all of these another thing that I'm sure we could talk forever. I mean, you're an agency, right? But like I would hire all these different agencies that would promise me the moon and stars, and then they wouldn't deliver, and they'd be big they'd be great in the beginning where you're actually doing your checks and balances. But like six months later, you're like, hmm. And like things are still sort of black.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:40

Were they marketing agencies? Were they accounting firms? Not accounting, no, never.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:44

You're the first accounting firm. Um, but they were like marketing agencies, um agencies that said they'd build us an app, um, agencies that were specifically doing advertising agencies that were oh god, just all sorts of like I'm not sure. Like, I know I need professional help, like someone who has anybody because after they've had you and they they get your your money in perpetuity, right? Like they're charging you and you're just ch-ching like every month. All of a sudden they know that you're busy. Because I also overshare. I'm like my ADHD oversharing ass is like constantly like, oh, I don't have time to like check up on things, and they're like, This is gonna be easy, like we're gonna get her a great cash in that check. So which is like but then they wouldn't do anything. Like, like the other day, we we or the other day, like I don't know, whatever, a couple weeks ago. I we had an agency that was doing our ads. I really like the people, like I talk to them on WhatsApp all the time. Like they're they're managing everything, they're giving me these numbers, and I'm like, I'm just curious. I was like having like, you know, a vivance day with Claude, and um, I'm like, I really need to check on these things. Like, I have a gut feeling something's weird. So I'd go into like my Google ads. Things are just really weird. Like they still have Black Friday shit going on, and I'm like, huh? And ultimately, is it their fault? Sure, but it's my fault. I didn't follow up with it because I but they knew I wouldn't because I was like, I'm a single mom, I'm trying to run my business, I'm trying to do this remotely, I'm doing blah blah blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:11

I'm wearing all these hats, I need you guys, and they're like which why that that like what you said is really interesting. So it's like it just sucks. I like that you're not gonna trust anybody. You can't, but I like that you're taking responsibility. Oh, 100% everything's my fault. But not every entrepreneur does, and that that's I think they fail a lot of times because they try to throw it on other people. So like you're saying, hey, they're not gonna be able to do it. Oh, every issue I've ever had is what I'm asking them to do, but I also did not keep saying on top of them to make sure they're doing it. 1000%. Which is hard to do, and that's why like this is a lesson for like all entrepreneurs, whether you're like starting it right now, whether you're on the journey to solepreneur.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:45

It's hard to ask, it's hard to ask for help in the first place when you want to give up some of that control. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:50

But then when those people are burning you, well, even the research is research, and then but you have you have to follow up, at least have like a three to six month period where you're like, okay, these are the things I'm going to check. So when you go into a commitment like that, even for the accounting firm, whoever, and that's one reason we don't do contracts, because we're like, hey, we're gonna do the this is our expectations from you and for us, right? We're not gonna put you in a contract because if it doesn't work out on either side, it sucks being tied to someone. Like, we don't want to be tied to you if like if you end up being a bad client and like same for us, like you know, vice versa. But that's for all the entrepreneurs out there. Make sure that you have you set your own expectations or like truly protocols and say, okay, I'm gonna follow up and check during this period. I mean actually you have to. Because you always intend to, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:36

You always intend to, but actually like, but I think going in with a plan would save you because you didn't go in with plan.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:42

We we've done things we didn't go in with plans. But if you're going to take on something like that, you go in with a plan and say, Okay, here's what I'm looking for them to do, and you tell them, hey, I'm going to do these things, you're gonna do these things, expectations, communication.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:58

I think a lot of times though, especially like like truly, I have like I run the business, like there's me, and then I have somebody that runs more of the the admin. The admin for sure I would call it that, definitely. And then I have another person that with the with admin and and the data and stuff in the customer service, she then tells our other manager how many units of like each color we need, how many palettes we need, whatever. But then that person manages the production plans of like wonder how are we getting how are we doing the production, hires the freelancers and like the people on our roster, which by the way are always usually makeup artists that are in between gigs. I've done that since I started my brand. So if you're like a makeup artist in LA and you're not getting as much work as you want, you don't want to stop doing following your dream, you can come and work for us in Phil Glitter. Like that's just been like that's how we've always run the business. But anyway, she'll she'll hire those people. I love that. And then my other person is basically all things creative. So all the ideas I have, she puts them into fruition. She has her own great ideas. Um just like and she's been wonderful. And then we just hired her an assistant. So that's literally it though. But all of like the main thing, the decision who we're hiring, who's doing our ads, like this all of that stuff comes on me. And a lot of these things I might have been an expert in 10 years ago have totally changed. Like the the internet has completely it's it's constantly like it's like compound interest, right? Like it's just like constantly like getting crazier and crazier, and the stuff that like even if I would have paid attention in college and like really got my like like done all that advertising stuff, like the stuff that we learned then does not apply then. Like nothing.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:40

AI was like nothing then. Now it's taken over, it's taken over half of the you know, creating websites in the web dev. Like, you don't hire people for that anymore. You hire you get AI, you get Claude to do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:51

Right.

unknown 1:12:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:52

Yeah, it's it's been it's been great. But what I will say is like ultimately, I'm just so lucky I get to do what I do. I'm I'm lucky that like I have a fun job and I'm lucky that I found the right people. I'm still looking for more of the right people, you know. But like, like I want the this brand has been so what an interesting story. Like, for like I'm not trying to sound cocky, but it's just so weird because so much was stacked against like the actual like likelihood of this being successful. But ultimately the product, it's so I will not take credit, I'll take maybe five percent of credit of like the success of my brand. Like, truly, it was a right place, right time, like right formula, and the product has carried us, and the reputation of the product, and like the craftsmanship and the workmanship and like the love we pour into what we do is what's carried this brand forward for the past 10 years, and I'm really, really proud of that. And so I have I'm always trying to be better, I'm trying to be the better version of myself than I was yesterday, a better mom than I was yesterday, a better, better boss than I was yesterday. But like it's um and I don't always succeed, but but I'm really proud of what of what I've done, and and it's I think a lot a lot of things that I've learned are a good thing to share with other people because I think that there's a lot of a lot of strange but interesting lessons up there.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:15

Okay. So then we're gonna ask you a couple speed round questions then. All right. My first question for you after you've been a business owner and entrepreneur for 11 years, you created a product from scratch out of thin air, right? What's your number one thing that you wish you would have done sooner? That's that first question. Like one thing where you're like, if I would have done this sooner, that that you are doing now, that's making it successful. One thing that you would have done sooner that would have just changed or made you like 10 times more advanced than you are now? Now you're quiet. No, I'm joking.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:51

No, well, I well, I have this like it's part of my brain. I'm like, I have like I'm sure I have such an obvious answer. Well, I'm sure I have such an obvious answer, but like when I'm put on the spot, I'm like, oh my gosh. Um, so truly, this was not like planned, you guys.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:03

No, nothing is planned here.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:05

Or like first thing that comes to mind, I guess it doesn't have to be number one, but the first thing that you're like, I would probably say, like, I would probably say embracing affiliate marketing earlier um is something that I will say because because our team associates.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:18

Is the barrier to entry high for that?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:21

I don't think so because it was dumb of me not to do it before because think of it this way like every piece of if you're not utilizing affiliates, and I'm not talking about the people that want to charge you like 15,000 for a story. I'm not talking about people like that. I'm talking about real people, customers, people that could be some random boy or girl in Ohio that just really loves what you've made and they just want to make a video about it. Like that has sold more product than anything I've spent 20 hours editing in in like video editing software. Like I am a storyteller. Whenever I start talking about my product, as you could probably see, I could ramble on and on because I love it and I I love to educate, especially like if this would have been like a video where I'm showing you how to do it. Like I'm such a technical person and I I really like I really like talking and educating. But that and like these videos that I could that I that I've done in the past and these like you know, ads that we've done, and we've spent so much money, time planning um film equipment, all of the stuff that we've wasted all of that time and money on.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:28

But it could have been stupid tax, like you paid it, so so you know it didn't work. You had to try it to know because it because you would have regretted not doing it if you didn't try it, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:37

Yeah, but it's just like the more effort you put into something in 2026, the less people care about it. And the more it looks professionalized, the less they're like, oh, literally, and and like some of the videos that have literally there's been videos that have been going on TikTok that have made us a hundred thousand dollars in one video, and it's from a person that's not a makeup artist, had no followers, just genuinely was reacting to what they were seeing. And I feel bad because that was before uh TikTok did commission. But like, but I mean we always we took care of them, but I'm just saying, like it that is where I should have had that aha moment and been like, okay, we need to stop like working so hard and strenuous strenuous and like doing all of these things to make these like perfect looking videos, like send it out there, just get it out there more and like like take this entire week to do nothing but affiliate marketing. I we probably should have done that more. That's our focus is to our entrepreneurs literally just just let because you're letting other people make the content instead of you. And you're also just like it's kind of like a instead of A B testing, you're like A Z testing. Like it's it's you're you're letting a bunch of people with a bunch of different um styles and voices and looks and diversity, and like they're diverse in so many different ways. You're letting them reach their own audiences on their terms and in their language in their voice. So it happens to be where so much more authentic.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:57

And then the barrier to entry for that is that just gifting them product to try, or would you say that they they buy the product, they do the video, and you say, Hey, I will give you as type and etc.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:08

It's more of a technical conversation to get into like how how it's done, but I will say that there are um layman's terms. Layman's terms, um it's just it it is it's complicated to learn because you're gonna the second you start being interested in it, the algorithm knows and it starts throwing all these agencies that they can promise that they're gonna get you all these people. Just learn TikTok shop. Just learn TikTok shop because if you can find the creators on TikTok that can make you these videos that are that they have these metrics that are built in it so you could see what videos are successful. Then you can approach those people and say, Hey, can I use this video on on Instagram out? Oh, those videos that they've already made. Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:46

Yeah, and then to for a speed push. Anyway, so it's a longer, longer story, but I would have done that sooner. We need to have you on again. We'll we'll do many of them. Let me become successful with it first and then I'll talk about how it works and what's it.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:59

We can definitely talk a lot and I have enjoyed listening to you. You have a pretty interesting and powerful powerful.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:08

Also known as weird.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:10

As what? As weird as weird.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:12

Interesting is like a substitute word for everything for me.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:14

But no, it's weird. Uh but uh I was going to ask now. It sounds like you are laser focused on this referral marketing. And you mentioned before about that you had ideas and sometimes you will forget that those ideas will not last over 24 hours. What do you think is that? Well, what do you think now? You have these ideas about referral marketing and you still have it in your mind and you want to implement it, but then all the ideas that you have for your business, sometimes it doesn't make it through the 24 hours.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:43

Well, that's just more like my broken ADHD brain. That sometimes that happens too. Like even yesterday, I um one of my like one of my amazing girl, uh, she was like, Okay, I finally did this. And I'm like, Well, why'd you do it that way? And she's like, Because you told me to. And I'm like, Oh, like I didn't realize that you're gonna take like four hours doing that, like you didn't have to do it that way. Like, I'm so sorry, I forgot that I told you to do that. And but isn't it funny? It it's the communication thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:10

It's like we I've done that. I'm so tired. And they're like, Well, I did it now.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:18

I know so so but that's the thing is that's every day is a masterclass in communication for me. It's something, it's like my biggest crutch, I would say, is because I know what I mean and what I intend it to come out.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:29

Forget, like, you're in your brain that you're gonna do.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:30

It's always got my communication, has always gotten me in trouble. Like the things I say and do have always come out wrong, and I it's like they always come out in a way I didn't intend. And this is in all sorts of different parts of my life, relationships, friendships. Like it just it doesn't come out right. So it is important to be a communicator, but like why am I laser focused on it now is because I've seen the success of it. Um, we've we've started um after I fired the the last agency, just something my last agency that I had told you about, something just kind of lit within me. And I think that, you know, AI is definitely gonna be the death of us all, but I think that it's also a very helpful tool for entrepreneurs because we now things that would have taken things that would have been very expensive lessons to learn or things that would have taken months to learn that hey, that's not gonna work, you can you can have an expert in your pocket in a couple minutes field between these huge brands, right? As long as you as long as you train it to not be a yes person, as to or not be a yes robot that's just gonna agree with you and be like, wow, that's such a great idea, Megan. Like, tell me more. Like, let me know. Yeah, it's like, no, so I literally tell it, I say, be an antagonist in this sense, like be a business partner that is the yin to my gang. Be somebody who's gonna push back on every one of my ideas, not in a way that you're like um not in a way where you're like being rude or you're like tearing them down, but in a way that challenges my own beliefs. Because like when you live in your own entrepreneur bubble, you do sort of think that like, oh well, this is a good decision because I'm making it. No, it's not. It's like it's actually probably a terrible idea.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:07

The whole time I couldn't, I didn't have to split 50%.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:09

Hey, club, club, club, club wasn't around. But I I I asked that because I answered sorry, is that answered? That does answer my my my question. I asked that because like uh growing up, you know, I told you I went to the psychologist, the psychiatrist from like five to sixteen because of my ADHD. Uh so but but supposedly something like the the doctor said is that people with ADHD they can be also like idea focused.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:35

And you just have to find that idea. That's the idea.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:38

Well, that is the thing is when I when I do, I I hyper focus, I obsess, and and then I have to become like a master in that.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:44

But what's weird is like a week after that, I like forgot that that even happened because I'm on to the next idea, but like at least that one got done, which is why it's good that you have that foundation of having that admin person, you have production people, you have people who are monitoring the website sales, you have all of that so you can be the CEO entrepreneur brain behind it, and that's kind of what we're who do you who do you talk business with?

SPEAKER_04 1:23:08

Like, you know, you have had like a conversation with that for the last hour and 30 minutes about business. When was that?

SPEAKER_00 1:23:13

Because I don't, it's the only person I talk to is the only person I talk to is my toddler. Like I don't ever so I'm so excited. So if I'm just like going in all these different directions, it's just because I'm excited to talk to people that like uh also understand like some of the some of the challenges and um who have their own unique set of challenges because I feel like we can really vibe. So that's why it's so exciting to talk to you guys. The thing that I have still failed at, and my biggest failure, and the thing that I'm failing at currently, right now, and where I need to get my ass in check, live selling is the future. Live selling is the future. If you don't like it, I don't care. Like that's we didn't like Instagram when it came out, and like we didn't, we didn't, we're like, oh that's not gonna go anywhere. Or when makeup artists started being on YouTube, right, right, right. Like live selling is the future. Every time that I go on live selling on TikTok, I kill it. I don't know what's broken in my brain, but I should be doing nothing but live selling on TikTok every single day for my brand. I don't do it. I don't know why I think I have like an anxiety thing. I have some sort of PTSD. I don't I don't know. I don't know what I don't know what it is. There's something that's stopping me from doing it, but if I can either get over that hump and like get on there, I would raise my brand's profits by probably 500%.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:32

Like I I'm gonna say this. This is like my challenge here. I'm gonna check in with you on this, and then we'll bring you back on and talk about this too. Once a week, you eat the frog. Try to do it on like a Monday, a Tuesday. Mondays already suck. Just eat the frog. So eat the frog means you do the thing that you don't want to do. Who wants to eat a frog?

SPEAKER_00 1:24:49

But actually, the thing is that when I do it, I actually love it. Like I love doing it, but it's like going to the gym, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:24:54

It's the thought of doing it. So it's like, hey, just say, hey, I'm eating the frog. Put it on there, get your stuff, live sale Monday morning. Drop them off.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:05

Is that the best time to do a live sale on Monday morning?

SPEAKER_00 1:25:07

No, probably not. The hard thing is. Mondays are already hard days. I'll be the first person to try to use an excuse to get out of something, but I will say this that the best time in our time zone here is 9 p.m., 9 to 12 a.m. And that's right when my son's sleeping, and he will like every time I've tried to sell at that time. 12 p.m. right now. No, a.m to 12 a.m. Um, so 7 p.m. West Coast time is the best time. People are home from work, they're laying in bed, they're scrolling.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:37

So that's when the day of the week or like Friday?

SPEAKER_00 1:25:38

Any I would say any day that people don't go out anymore, so it doesn't really matter. Um, so really any day I go out and people don't go out.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:45

That's true.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:46

You do I went out one time. But not that not the way it used to be. It used to be like we're going out on a Tuesday. It's like we're not like nobody interesting goes out anymore. Remember that song? It's like the club's going down on a Tuesday. On a Tuesday. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. I remember I was in the club when that song came out. We did. But yeah, illegally, but live selling. Live selling, live selling. Um, I know for for your business, I don't think that that would be necessarily a way to do it. I think I think you're doing the best thing you could possibly do for your business, but live selling is what I need to do. And if I could find, if anybody's watching that is like a killer live seller, I will literally build you a background in your house if you want to be on live selling my brand five days a week.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:26

When you have uh AR-generated backgrounds or whatever, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:26:29

Whatever. Guess what they have though? You can go live sell at Walmart. They have like those, they have like a booth. It's insane. They built like an entire like podcast studio and like everything there. You can rent a room and just live sell. But no, I'll build you one in your house if you're a good live seller and you're cute and you've got a good personality and you know. You have to be cute. To be cute. But cute relative. That's I'll build you a background.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:51

I want to talk about how Walmart, and like we we can go on this another day, but like think about that. Walmart, one of the biggest, like well-known like consumer in-person in-store brands, they are bringing in other sources of revenue into the to keep their physical presence. Think about their physic their real estate, all their physical presence. It's massive, probably one of the biggest in the country. Yeah, probably the it probably is.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:13

And where we live here is like one of the first um ones that they're doing this, and they're bringing that in to inside.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:19

And they're realizing and they're like, we have to move and do something else because people are not coming in and shopping, right? I mean, when's the last time we went to Walmart? Never. I mean, you you order online. Okay, my last question. I will say it's pretty cool. I haven't done it yet, but it it is pretty cool in there. No, that's interesting. I have one question. I don't want to run out of time. Okay. So the use of AI that sparked this question, you mentioned that. So, how do you feel as an entrepreneur and business owner about your data being potentially used by accounting firms, law firms, etc., with AI or having AI know your data, like proprietary information? Um, well, I've used it before, so I'll just say that before I but I mean, like if So like but how how would you feel if I said, Hey, I'm not like all of this stuff I'm telling you is all from Claude. I didn't do any of it. I mean, which is not true. We don't use any client information into AI ever. No, for sure. But um if I did that, how would you feel? And maybe I just didn't tell you, right? But maybe in the background, we're say say it you're a CPA firm or you're a a law firm's using AI, I'll tell you that you results.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:26

I will tell you this. I will tell you the same thing that I tell every agency that ends up screwing me over and in general. Is but it is a good rule of thumb. I don't care how much money it costs if you're making me money. If something is gonna cost me a thousand dollars a day in ads, but you're bringing in five thousand, six thousand dollars in sales, don't ask, don't tell. I don't care. Like I probably should. I I really I probably should, but again, I think when you're when you're like you, when you're focusing so much on stuff and like I understand like AI can also make you more productive in some ways because I used uh a different firm. I wouldn't I wouldn't even go so far as to call it a firm because it was AI, but it was an AI software I used for the last few years before I found you that um it was good and bad. It was good for it was specifically bookkeeping. So it's like if if it it learns what you spend your money on and it categorizes for it automatically, yeah, um, so that you don't have to be a good idea.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:20

So you can't get a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:20

Oh, but it was wrong about it was wrong about all everything, and it ended up sucking. And then they also ended up at the end of the month, they're like, you need to tell us if we were right about all of these things. And I'm like, You're wrong about everything. It's like it's actually taking me more work than um anyway. So sometimes it can be helpful, yeah. Um but ultimately I'm a results person, and I think to in order to be a good entrepreneur and to have a successful business, you cannot obsess about every decision, even though I do, and that's why I'm saying I know I could be so much better than I am. Um, but you really have to let go of some of that and focus on what's gonna get the results. Um be uh be a creator instead of a consumer, you know, instead of sitting there scrolling on your phone, tell yourself like metaphor metaphorically, like yeah, you could be making something or you could be consuming, you could be creating or consuming. And I have been, I'm not gonna lie, like I I get stuck in these like waves of just being consume, consume, consume. Sometimes I'm like, I need to create because I'm such a natural creator.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:22

Sometimes or it just eats your soul. Yeah, and it's brain rot. Um okay. So I have a piggyback question on that. You said, it's kind of happy to so you're happy to spend money on something that's making you money, right? Absolutely. So then how would you justify and like would you say accounting and tax and like advisory is making you money? Obviously, advisory kind of helps your business grow, right? But would you say accounting and tax was is that worth it? Do you see the value in that?

SPEAKER_00 1:30:47

Um it depends because we haven't had a full year together, hope. So I don't know yet. Okay, um let me know. And we file an extension, so it definitely can make you money. It can make you a lot of money because if you hire the right people who I don't want to sound shady, but like no loopholes or specifically like taxes, are passionate, but yeah, no strategies, but are also passionate about um about their clients and they care a lot about their clients, and they might know that hey, maybe for like a I'm I don't know, female owned business or something, there are these grants or something. Like you that, but also just a good strategy I got um uh several years ago was hey, don't just be an LLC, be an LLC that's viewed as an S-corp for taxes because you can um do like more with all sorts of like I don't speak numbers.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:33

That's very situational and circumstantial.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:36

Sure. But at the time that's what was recommended to me, but they were like you could either spend this much on taxes or you can put this much that money into retirement, which is gonna end up compounding and make you more money later. So I think if you're not I think one of the worst things entrepreneurs can can be and can do is always try to be the smartest person in the room because you're not going to be, and you need um that can cost you millions and millions of dollars over the course of years and and potential potential income, lost income, paying too much to taxes, or just not doing the right strategies and screwing up your retirement. Like there's so it it ultimately can absolutely is imperative on who you hire and um and you can make money from accounting one thousand percent, like you know, of course.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:23

Well, knowing your numbers in general, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:32:25

And like having proper data, like you said, or finding somebody if you're really somebody like me who I will look at them in the beginning, but I probably won't look at them all the time because of my personality type or my damage. Um, you having somebody you trust to that you know is looking out for you and doing the numbers is is so important. You can hire somebody based on a review, but it's really about the connection and knowing that you trust that person to have your back um when you don't have like a giant team of people around you. Yeah, that's good stuff.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:57

But I trust you, so good. Thank you. I trust you too. No, we have good clients only at Y Glove. Okay, um, so now we're gonna wrap it up and this is our little last section. So then we, Jet and I, are each going to say what we would do if we took over a CEO today or tomorrow. And then then we didn't do this last time, but then I want to see like I want you to say one thing. Actually, before we do that, I want to hear one thing that you think should be done differently as like CEO of Lemon Head that you're not doing.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:31

Oh, easy. I have a I've how much time do we have? Um checking my numbers every day.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:38

Uh you took mine. No, I'm just kidding. No, checking checking my numbers every day.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:42

So you think you think that you're at the level where you need to check it every day? So then typically that's more in the soulpreneur, like when you're by yourself.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:48

It's not just that, but it's to stay connected. It's to stay, it's to have that, it's to not cut that umbilical cord and still be connected to your company, be connected to your numbers, even if the numbers are like they're the same, nothing major is going on, whatever. I think the CEO should look at it every single day, or do you think there should be like a monthly like CFO meeting where you're I think that you should be connected in some way every day to what's currently happening at your company because so many times I've taken two days off, three days off where I'll, you know, I'll be there to answer questions, make final decisions, but I'm not actually at the computer looking at something. And then uh, you know, I will go back and look at something and I'm like, ah, this thing has been wrong on the website for like a few days. Like I should have been like looking at this, like and it's ultimately on me, right? Because I'm the one that did it or I'm the one that missed it. Um so it just just staying connected and also if you're looking at the numbers every day and let's say they're not exactly where you want to be, and let if if you're only counting on somebody to tell you, like, hey, we're kind of not doing so good, how long has it been like that since they decided to speak up? Like, if you're actually in tune with what's happening in the moment, it's gonna make you more motivated to be like, hey, let's do a promotion, let's do a text message promotion right now. Oh my god, like we need to get our sales up right now. Wow. Like, and it just makes you a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:05

Do you think that kind of reacted up reactive approach actually makes your company money?

SPEAKER_00 1:35:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:11

So profit, like bottom line, dollars in your pocket.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:14

Being well, I'm I'm talking just in general about being more active than being passive. So you just making sure that you're active, maybe not eight hours a day, but being active every day in some way with your company is going to make it so much more successful. I like it.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:34

And I know that just one day we're gonna come back on and have an e-commerce segment though, because I notice a lot of e-commerce businesses, they see that Shopify number looks bad one day and they sell, like they're like sale, sales, fire sale, right? But what happens is then there's like putting such a big sale on and people buy all this product at this sales price. Oh yeah, no, we don't do like and then it's we never really do sales, but then people are people go ahead and buy during that sale time and they don't buy later at the full price.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:02

I just think it keeps you maybe I'm not saying it right, but it keeps you motivated and in tune. And it makes you feel like you feel more connected. I definitely don't do it. Understanding and knowing your numbers is very important. We don't do we're not a brand that does sales because we make everything by hand. So we're always actually playing catch up. So very rarely do we do sales. People anticipate our Black Friday sale every year, and then we might do like one or two other things, but we'll do other promotions, like maybe we'll do a um a gift with purchase or something other, something special. Yeah, or just I don't know, do something like fun things, yeah. Yeah, I will say though that it's very easy to not look at your numbers over and over and over again. It's easier, it is easy, yeah, to to like start a trend where it's like, oh, I haven't looked at that in a couple weeks, and then you're like, Oh, why does everything suck? You're like, because you didn't look at it and you like didn't catch this thing or something, you know. So um it is important to just be present as much as you can.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:58

So setting maybe like having oh each week have like a um identified that's helpful to CEOs. So like one week maybe it's production, next week it's finances, next week it's like quality, next week it's like customer service, next week.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:10

It would be so much easier if if I was there, but you know, not being there too, all I really have is the data to see how things are going. I mean, I could I can install some cameras, but like I mean, I have the data and I have my trust. So um if I'm only going off of trust, I'm missing the data. If I'm only going off of data, I'm not really in tune with what's happening with with the girls, and they probably don't feel less connected to me, and I don't want that to happen either. So just making sure that you're that you're there, making sure that people know you're there because you don't want them to feel abandoned either. Because if you if they feel like you don't care, then they're probably not gonna care very much.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:44

I like it. Okay. So now we're gonna get to it. Okay, so if I I were took over a CEO today or tomorrow of my company of Lemonhead LA. Please do it. The first thing I would do is I would do and I think I say this all the time, but I would do a huge like costing and pricing analysis. Because I think there's probably room for some profit margin adjustments. Okay increases, right? So that would be my number one thing is I would first I would see process A to Z. How do we make and do everything? Okay, how can we make it more efficient? How can we make it more cost savings? What are our suppliers? Are they the highest quality and the best price? Okay, if not, let's negotiate and let's fix that.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:24

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:25

And then I would do a full scope of okay, what are our competitors pricing, where are they, and then swatch it. Which one do you want? Right? This one's 50, this one's 60, this one's 20, this one's 30. And hours are the best, and it's at 30. So I would do lot lots of more things like that, like you had mentioned, but definitely pricing and costing and just full analysis of all of the expenses to see where we can cut and then use that excess profits then for scalability and then for new products, RD like that. You're gonna love this? Yeah, I can't wait to try.

SPEAKER_04 1:39:00

Yeah, no, I guess uh I'm going to refresh the question for me. I would say what I would do if I am the owner of Lemon Head just to be more specific to you and your situation.

SPEAKER_00 1:39:10

I feel like hire a CEO.

SPEAKER_04 1:39:11

No, uh that's one of them, but I really think you have built something great because Lemon Head, I love the passion, I love the vision, I love all of the stuff you wanna do. You wanna support makeup artists, you wanna support woman, the product is made here, the product is just the people just grew it by hand. That is a lot of good stuff, and also you know, you grew this for you because you didn't you do not wanna work for somebody else. I I'm I feel like that too. I started my business because I wanted uh to make enough money to support a family, and I also wanted to have the time freedom to support to support a family and get myself ready and for that. I'm not that yet. I mean I told myself I will give myself a three-year plan to achieve that. I mean one point half year, so after next year why it gloss better run by itself, but uh I really think I think I would say just go back to why you started Lemon Head and what well and what was the goal for it for you, and then most likely you didn't start the business just to be on the day to day of the business and try to be checking uh the business for it, and just do the things you really enjoy doing and you really want to do, and and everything else that you think you are not enjoying it or the business need but you don't really want, bring somebody else. I agree with you, a CEO would be good, but I feel I I feel like for you, I think it would have been ideal to bring a business partner. For you or Leon, I think having a business partner with the same vision, same passion as you, but more on the business, less creative side, more in the business, more on the operational side of it.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:59

But but it could have held you back too at the same time, maybe.

SPEAKER_04 1:41:02

But also like uh something with us that has happened with us, like it's good that we have business partners because it's also you know, uh we keep each other accountable more on the beast on the operational side of it, on the business side of it. I'm like, man, we gotta make money no matter what. We gotta keep it. We gotta grow because you know, I I have to do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:22

That's the kind of partner that I need to that's the kind of partner that if that ever were gonna be a thing that I would need to bring in. Because I think my biggest crutch, and it's like I don't think I've ever said this out loud, yeah, but like I should care about money more. And I will say that like I've I've kind of I've I've been stuck in this mentality for a long time. As long as my employees are paid and I paid the bills, I kind of keep the business running at a level where it's not overly stressful. Being comfortable. I think a lot of people do that. Because my brand could be so much bigger if I if I if I took if I did other things and had money as the number one and had profit as a number one goal, our brand would be like wildly different. I've had like honestly, especially the last couple years of being a single mom and the transition and being by myself in Tennessee and all of that. I've been like, it's not broke, don't fix it. Yeah, like it's it's like and everybody nobody's stressed out and everybody's fine and the bills are paid, the lights are on, like we're doing okay. But I I constantly have this voice in the back of my head being like you suck, like you, like you need to you this needs to be bigger. You're only gonna have so long of a window that you can really blow this company up. And I'm like, okay, I'm ready. And so you've noticed a big change in me. Like the last the last couple months, I've been like, all right, like it's time to go, like CEO mode, like let's actually product better, yeah, yeah. Price we talked about pricing already.

SPEAKER_04 1:42:42

Yeah, but but was money while you started the business, or you started the business. Then why why are you focusing on money then? Well no, I'm still not.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:51

I'm saying that's my problem.

SPEAKER_04 1:42:53

Why why did you start a business?

SPEAKER_00 1:42:55

I well, I started the business because well, I didn't, I wouldn't say I started a business, I invented a product that for her for myself to use and it makes them better at her job. Yeah, people just started going crazy for it, and I'm like, well, it would be kind of dumb to not put a website up and then it would be well, I'm not giving up on this now. Like, I just had my rent paid for me, like, and I didn't I think I could make more money doing this than I do at like a corporate job. A little money tied to it, but but it's like at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01 1:43:21

Well, I mean it's more security where you're like, okay, I'm comfortable here, which is human, but now you're kind of getting it.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:26

But I mean, I'm still in a place where like on a day-to-day basis I stress about money, and I'm like, and I literally this morning I'm walking in my garage and I'm just like, you wouldn't have to. I literally like talk to myself in my head. I'm like, you would not even have to be worried about that if you just get your stupid lazy ass on live. Like, just live sell. Just go live sell, you'd have mortgage to be paid for, you stupid idiot. Like, do I'm like, you know, and like and I'm like, you're right, you know, like in my head. I love hearing entrepreneurs the way they talk to themselves. It's horrible. I'm so abusive. I am so abusive to myself.

SPEAKER_04 1:43:56

Just go out, make as much money as you need for you to be good for the rest of your life, like you know, in the next next three years. Make as much money. I think I think you can do it. You have a great product, great brand.

SPEAKER_00 1:44:08

You know, I know that there's a playbook there somewhere that later in life I'll be like, why didn't I just do that? Like, that was so stupid. Why didn't I do that?

SPEAKER_01 1:44:16

Everyone has that at every point, though. So, like, that that's going to happen.

SPEAKER_04 1:44:20

So, but hey, you I know uh I know like you probably don't think that you're doing that well, but you're doing pretty good. I know I'm looking good. I just know that I could be doing better, you know what I mean? But we all do.

SPEAKER_00 1:44:33

Anybody with like a brain like this, you know we know what we're capable of, and we know what percent we're operating at. I think I'm probably operating at like a 50%.

SPEAKER_04 1:44:40

Yeah, but like I'm like, but I'm also not super stressed. As long as you're okay with that, it's okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:44:46

I but I am okay with it, but I shouldn't be okay with it.

SPEAKER_04 1:44:48

Why?

SPEAKER_01 1:44:48

That's sometimes when you're at a different stage in your life, when you have a two-year-old who needs that.

SPEAKER_04 1:44:53

That's okay. I'm three. Hey, the last three weeks I was at zero percent, and I do not care.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:58

I'm like the big You better be at 150 the next three weeks. I don't care.

SPEAKER_04 1:45:02

I'm like, hi. Did I really have to?

unknown 1:45:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:07

I got some tax return.

SPEAKER_04 1:45:08

Why do you have to? You know what I mean? So bad. I feel like with business, and what I do with business, like, hey, the most important person in my life is me.

SPEAKER_02 1:45:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:45:16

I mean, the most important person in my business is me. Like, I do whatever I want because of me. Whatever I want to know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:45:22

It's just me and I'm like, I think it's it takes a lot of courage to be able to admit that like that you're like that, right? Because I think maybe it's a maybe it's a woman thing too, where like I can't say that I'm doing this because it's all about me. Like it's not right, like it should be about everybody else.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:36

But like especially when you have kids, like and have children. People people expect them to be first, which is like at the end of the day, I can't take care of them and have them as first if I'm not taking care of them.

SPEAKER_00 1:45:46

Well, so so that's that's a huge thing, and that was a big reason, like, you know, on a personal level, like why I made the decision to leave the situation that I was in, because I felt like I just I was at the bottom, and I'm like, I cannot carry everybody, I can't carry all my employees, my business, this this, you know, my partner, my child, like I can't even shower, like sometimes. Like, what is happening? Like, I've got four animals. Like, what is happening? I'm literally like bottom of the totem pole. And when I started putting myself per I started putting myself first in the sense of obviously my son, his needs come first. If he needed, if there was only a little bit of food, he'd have the food. But what I mean is like when you start putting yourself first and you and you you take care of yourself, if you're fit, if you're if you're happy, if you're mentally well, if you're like doing all these things for yourself, you're gonna be a better business partner, you're gonna be a better entrepreneur, you're gonna be a better mother, you're gonna be a better person, you're gonna be a better friend. And that benefits the ecosystem that you've cultivated around you. And so I have focused on myself for the last like two years, and I've never felt better. I think I've never been happier.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:52

More entrepreneurs should take that advice because if you're at zero, how can you give your business a hundred percent? Right? You need to be at a hundred percent to be able to give your business that piece of you. Just like when you're in the airplane and they're like, hey, if you have young children with you, put the mask on you first because you can't take care of them. You can't help you. Put the mask on you, make sure you're breathing, then give air to your business, give life to your business.

SPEAKER_00 1:47:12

And it is hard, it is hard to imagine doing that, but you have to take a step back and pragmatically look at it and be like, yeah, all right.

SPEAKER_01 1:47:19

So basically, I guess what we learned here, I mean, we learned a lot of stuff. We learned the beautiful story of Lemonhead LA, um, of Megan. But then also understanding your numbers is so valuable and so important for even for like a very creative brand, because then it that allows you to be more creative and grow and have new products. Well, it's motivation, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:47:39

It's motivation.

SPEAKER_01 1:47:40

Exactly. But you without understanding your numbers, you can't say, okay, I feel comfortable to make a new product. I feel good about create you you can't think about being creative.

SPEAKER_00 1:47:50

Well, I had to make a big decision like that lately, uh, like a couple months ago. I probably should have told you about it. But I've had, you know, a bunch of most of our business money in a CD, and it's the CD had was just like set to auto-renew. So it'd be like auto-renew, auto-renew, auto-renew. And I was like, hey, we actually need to stop because one, like, I have so much business expenses coming up because I have to, I'm reinvesting in the brand. I'm coming out with new product. I'm um, I'm doing like a bun a bunch of stuff, but I'm I'm I'm nervous if I don't take this money out. I'm not sure I'm gonna have enough for payroll. I'm not I might I might not because I might have a fifty thousand, hundred thousand dollar bill to do for like the kind of you know, the we're finally we finally did our first product that isn't handmade because it's aerosol, you can't do aerosol handmade. So I had to, but I mean it was oh my god, I've been working with them for almost two years developing this, but it's finally here, and I'm like, okay, and now it's doing really well. So I need to order like several thousand more and at quite a bit of money per piece, it's like it's a lot of money. So I had to take the money out of a CD. I I wouldn't, if I hadn't known my numbers, I could have just let the CD continue and put myself in a really like scary situation, um, not having enough money to continue the business operating expenses because I just let the money roll over. Because obviously you can take it out if you need to, but um but then you have like the penalties and stuff like that. So it is important in many different ways, but ultimately for somebody like me with a brain like mine that's truly 100% right brain with like dabbles in left, like you need to know numbers if only to keep yourself feeling like connected emotionally to your business and come and uh connected creatively. Yeah, like if it's doing bad, you're having a bad day, you don't need to go do a flash sale, but all of a sudden that business is gonna be the top thing on your mind. Whereas it might not have been had you not looked, if you just thought, okay, I'm sure it's fine. Like, no, you need to be, you need to be there. And the other thing, emotionally, coming from people who also works with a small team, if I'm checked out and my employees feel like I don't care, why the hell should they care? If I'm if I'm dilly-dallying halfway across the country, I haven't even answered their email or haven't responded to their text that day, how motivated would you be at work, right? So, like I feel like you want to be a motivator in many ways to the people that work for you and lead by example.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:50:08

Good stuff. Thanks.

SPEAKER_01 1:50:10

All right. Well, thank you, Megan. Thank you at Living Hut LA for letting us steal her for the day. Yes. But it's very