Tracy Dubb: Co-Founder of Isla Beauty

Kara Goldin 0:00
I am unwilling to give up that I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be, I want to just want to make sure you will get knocked down. But just make sure you don’t get knocked down knocked out. So your only choice should be go focus on what you can control control control. Hi, everyone and welcome to the Kara Goldin show. Join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world’s greatest leaders. We’ll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and really some of the most interesting people of our time. Can’t wait to get started. Let’s go. Let’s go. Hi, everyone, it’s Kara Goldin from the Kara Goldin show. And I’m so excited to have my next guest. Here we have Tracy Dubb, who is the co founder and CEO of an incredible beauty brand that I just discovered. It’s called Isla beauty. And it is so so good. I’m obsessed with this brand. So very excited to have the co founder and CEO with us here today to talk a little bit about it. They launched in May 2020. And it’s a skincare company that is all about simplicity and sustainability. And what started as a mission to find the perfect products to help Tracy achieve her flawless skin. It’s now a fast growing cult beauty brand. Like I said that is I think I was probably the last to know about it. But I’m I’m truly truly obsessed now just because you’re on here with me, Tracy, but I think it’s super great. So we’re going to hear not only about her founding story, but a little bit more about what differentiates that her products from other things. And and, as we always do on this podcast, always get great insight into entrepreneurship and some of the things that Tracy has seen along the way. So welcome, Tracy.

Tracy Dubb 1:57
Thank you. It’s so nice to meet you and to be here. And I you know, I think hint water was one of those, like products and brands that was around while I was getting started in the industry. And so I’m familiar with the rise and how you guys kind of changed the way people think about water. And it’s definitely, you know, a super inspiring story. So I’m excited to talk to you just you know, as an entrepreneur as well, and appreciate you saying the kind things about Isla. And yeah, I’m happy to be here. Super

Kara Goldin 2:28
excited. So Tracy also just had a little baby. So congratulations, and so excited that you’re that you’re here, and what would probably normally be your maternity leave, but you’re taking a break to come on with that search is super awesome. So anyway, so before founding eila you worked in venture capital and private equity and achieved tremendous success. What was it that really led you to say, I’m gonna go start my own company? I mean, that’s, that’s a crazy idea. Yeah,

Tracy Dubb 3:05
definitely. And I didn’t even know how crazy it was. I always say to people, like the joke’s on me, because I worked with probably 1000s of founders, and I never appreciated how hard it is how many hats you have to wear, how much the work truly never ends. You know, we were just chatting before about how you started your company. You know, when you gave birth, basically the same day, I have pictures of me in the hospital with my first answering PR, you know, answering a an interview online, you know, while they’re like putting my IV in and stuff. So I think you can’t really understand it until you live it, but it’s a wild ride. And I would say that if I wasn’t as passionate about what we’re doing, you know, I’m obviously passionate about skincare, but I think it’s even taking a step further up from that. It’s about finding solutions for women to feel really good and you know, feel confident and really to be able to go about their day, whether it’s you know, being a mother or going to work or helping people. I mean, I guess for most moms, I know, it’s all three of those things, but I, you know, my relationship to my skin and skincare has evolved over time. But when I think about, like what gets me up every day, I’m just super excited about what we’re able to do with product and efficacy that I hope makes people’s lives like a little bit better and a little bit easier. And so, you know, it’s obviously about having clear skin and, and all that but it’s also really about helping people feel the best that they can. And so that like is sort of why I’m here. And, you know, I it was kind of a natural progression for me from working with businesses and so closely with founders to wanting to start something I think I feel like this isn’t true for everyone who works in finance or investing or venture capital, but I think a lot of people you know, really think about what makes You know, brands great and what makes people feel emotional about them. And I had spent so much time thinking about that in the context of other brands. And then, you know, when I started to apply it to myself, and what, you know, what I was passionate about in skincare, I really felt like there was something that I could do in the space that I didn’t think that other brands were doing. And you know, and I think for any entrepreneur, like, that’s the first question you have to answer, which is like, can anyone else do this? And? And if not, then I think you have to go for it.

Kara Goldin 5:30
Yeah, definitely. And I think it’s, it’s, I, as I always say, like ideas are a dime a dozen, it’s really about the execution. So you must have believed that you could pull this off, right? Otherwise, you know, you wouldn’t have actually gone and done it. But how would you describe I love beauty? Like, what was the first product that you launched with, and what was the kind of the key thing that you want to solve?

Tracy Dubb 5:54
I think, you know, you obviously said some of the key things about the brand in the beginning, but I think the way that I describe the company is is a beauty brand that really puts the consumer at the center and thinks about how they can do more for them. And that was ultimately what I wanted out of brands, like I was meeting different brands all the time on a professional level and getting into their philosophy around creating product and really their capabilities at the end of the day. And, you know, to your point about execution, you you can have a million ideas about what would be better, but unless you have a way to get it done, you know, in a different or better way than the competition, then it’s just an idea. And so for that I’m I’m I certainly couldn’t do it alone. That’s where my partner and his family kind of come into play because I met them and found out about their work as Australia’s largest contract manufacturer, basically, product developer and product maker of skincare, beauty and cosmetics. It’s a family business 50 years in the making. And I really started to learn more about how beauty products are made. And and really what was missing in the process. For a lot of brands, whether you’re a multi billion dollar conglomerate or startup brand, there’s a lot of you know, for lack of a better word middlemen and watering down that happens, you can hit price targets, or you can hit your deadlines. And you know, it kind of happens in a way that the customer sort of loses out, because they either don’t get the best product that they could possibly get to address, you know, XYZ concern, or they don’t get the best price or they don’t get, you know, the best quality and so there’s not really any one, you know, we’re we’re really not about one specific cannon, I guess if those things I just named, were really about the experience of like, how do we go around the world using the resources that we and only we really have, and bring you a brand that’s pushing the envelope on all of those things on sustainability on simplicity on multifaceted product on price and quality. And, you know, package that to you in a way that is accessible and fits into your routine and is really, at the end of the day, the products that I you know, wanted to buy as a person who struggled with my skin. And as a result, just who spent so much time I think as many you know, women and men do on skincare and on self care and you know those things that that sort of come out of it and on on wanting to like look and feel their best. And so our you know, our differentiator, if you will, is really about the capability and the expertise that we’re kind of harnessing, and it’s the strategy with which we make our product, you know, other brands, they are built around, let’s say one ingredient that they you know, that they use across their product line or one geography, you know, Australian beauty to take an example. Obviously, you know, some of our folks are headquartered in Australia, but we make our products all over the world. And I think the thing that people didn’t know and don’t know about beauty is that there are sort of experts that have been doing this for years and years and years way before beauty was you know, everyone and their mother wanted a beauty brand and we really position the experts at the forefront. So if we’re trying to make for example, a serum that targets the top concerns that our consumers have, which is hydration and redness and degradation of the skin throughout the day because a lot of us live in cities or get you know exposed to sun or put on makeup. We want it to go to the specific partner for research and development that we knew could execute on that really well that spends their days and nights innovating on technologies and you know, penetration, efficacy and the little sort of nuanced elements of formulation that make a product great versus good. And, you know, bring that out and every product has its own story and its own little world and reason for being which is why you know for me it’s really a dream company because I think the way most people build their routine is they have one product from one company and one product from another company. And one thing to address, you know, this this issue they’re having, and I think every product, it all feels cohesive and works well in a routine, but we’re truly trying to push the envelope each time we go to the drawing board and say, okay, like, what’s our next product?

Kara Goldin 10:20
I love the fact that you did not launch with a whole bunch of products. And I think there’s an overall trend of simplicity that’s gone on, that didn’t exist years ago, especially in beauty. Can you talk a little bit about that how you thought about, you know, product launches? Yeah,

Tracy Dubb 10:41
so we actually launched with three pretty unique products, we, we launched with a physical exfoliator, a priming moisturizer, and a toner meets an essence product, which is called the elixir, which is one of our best sellers. And each of them have their own story of how they came to be. But I think they’re, they’re all sort of a great example of how and why we tick. And so with, in the case of the the elixir, we sort of sat down with the many people that have been developing products for all these brands, you know, for years and years, and we kind of talked about, okay, like, What in your opinion is interesting is, is effective and is like not out there. And we came up with this tiny little factory in Australia that has, is able to harness an ingredient that’s native to Australia called Australian wild berries, which is a super antioxidant rich berry that grows, you know, for a lot of people the gold standard in antioxidants is blueberries. And this is three times the antioxidant benefit of blueberries. So it’s a unique product, it’s not everywhere, and it works really well in a skincare formulation. And so we started with that as our base. And we and we added in other botanical oils and extracts in order to make it like in our you know, in our opinion, the perfect hydrating step for your routine, you know, and then it was sort of a question of well, where in the routine is this is this ingredient going to fit. And for us, we wanted to take a product category, which is the toner, which is typically astringent products that go on your face that are sort of like a liquid exfoliant, they kind of like they use acids, oftentimes to remove things from your skin, which is great, but what happens is sometimes you end up with good results for a little while, and then your skin kind of changes and gets too dry. And then it gets resistant. And so for us it was like how do we reframe this step as something that is really about building up your skincare back your skin barrier, and delivering all of these nutrients into your skin in a way that we didn’t feel other toners were doing. So we wanted to look at the category and see what people were doing and ultimately create something that kind of, you know, adds adds a little bit of value while also offering a new option for people. And so it was a you know, a lot of skincare brands they launched with a moisturizer and a serum and a cleanser. But we didn’t launch with any of those we launched with these products, because we felt specifically these were areas where we could innovate. And we could go around the world and kind of find the best options and create from there. And so the exfoliator that I mentioned, it has these super gentle physical exfoliating flakes that are made of 100% naturally occurring silica, so nothing bad for the environment, but also nothing bad for your skin. And then we kind of followed that up with fruit enzymes that will dissolve some of the dead skin cells and some of the buildup on your skin without damaging your barrier. And there just wasn’t there’s not there’s still nothing like it in the market. It feels amazing. It works very well. It’s very gentle. And, you know, for us, it was really important like to ask ourselves every step of the way. Is this already out there because there’s so much stuff out there. And, you know, we just wanted to create something new, you know, at every step of the way.

Kara Goldin 14:05
What do you think was like the the ingredient that you felt maybe some products had, but you really didn’t want to have in your product?

Tracy Dubb 14:13
Yeah, I mean, there’s a lot there’s a lot of ingredients that you know, it’s no secret anymore. The whole clean beauty industry I think is built around the idea of like what’s not in your product and what shouldn’t be you know, for us, it’s our kind of pillar around that is extremely high ingredient integrity. So every product has its own set, you know, its own deck of of ingredients, we we don’t we stay away from certain things like silicones, which are on a lot of those know lists, but also they’re just they they you know they create this like artificial feeling of effectiveness because they have a super silky finish but you’re not actually improving your skin. So for example with our serum that was like the biggest formulation challenge like there are some $300 serums out there that are basically like You’re more of a silicone in some form or another and they feel amazing when you put them on. And they give you this impression that, you know, they’re helping your skin, but they’re actually kind of light on the formulation and the ingredients. So, you know, for us, there were some obvious things that we’re going to stay away from anything that would pose any sort of a health threat. Although that’s typically not as big of an issue as the market has made it seem around beauty products and beauty ingredients. I mean, there’s a lot of ingredients that certainly at very high potencies wouldn’t be good for you to ingest or put on your skin. But, you know, for I think any reputable skincare company you’re not shouldn’t be formulating with those anyway. But we lean heavily into naturally derived ingredients. And then we also just lean heavily into the formulation around them. Because just having an ingredient in a jar isn’t enough, it’s sort of like a recipe. You know, if you’re making a cake, the the formula is really what makes it work. And to get a good formula. And to get that level, I think of results that you’re looking for. That’s kind of where the experience and the expertise comes in. So, you know, we like to think about it as like taking the kind of old world heritage and fusing it with like a routine that is modern and feels modern, and is what you know, you or I might be looking for out of our routine, but kind of bridging that gap because I think that’s what a lot of brands have sort of failed to do. And that’s why you’ll see like on the front of every product it’ll say, Made in Italy, made in Switzerland made in Australia. And so every product is going to be super safe for both your skin and your overall health but it’s also just going to focus on what’s in the ingredient as opposed to what’s in the product as opposed to what’s not.

Kara Goldin 16:45
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Tracy Dubb 20:07
Yeah, I mean, I would say that’s been the most challenging part for for me, just because I was so well versed in, you know, building the model and looking at the margins, but then it’s a whole different ballgame once you’re sort of in the market. And so I think, you know, for us, we always just have to think about, okay, who are we speaking to? And, you know, what are they looking for. And I think it’s so easy to get pulled away from that when you’re launching a brand, because you have a lot of people giving you a lot of different advice, and you’re balancing the needs and wants of investors. And you know, I think for us, it’s just been build it slowly and really listen to our customer. And make sure that we are, like always answering this question of why do I need this? Or, you know, or why does it need to exist? And so, you know, product market fit, I think, what’s what’s been a happy surprise is that, like, if there’s something that, you know, I I, the hunch was, if I feel strongly about this, and my partner feels strongly about this, then there must be other people out there feeling strongly about it. I think the bigger challenge in today’s landscape is how do you reach those people, you know, because I think that there’s so many brands out there vying for attention, and everyone lives online. And so what we’ve been doing as a, you know, as a company over the last year, especially since things with COVID, sort of eased up, you know, we unfortunately launched into a extremely COVID heavy reality. So, things look different from day one. But we have been trying to kind of bring the brand offline and find ways to interact with our customers. And we’re doing more of that, you know, by by trying to make a push into retail and in pop ups and events. Because I think that for brands of today that are born online, it’s not just enough to be online anymore, you know, you have to be out there talking to people and answering their their questions and understanding their pain points as well. But, you know, I think for all of us, we’re all looking for, like a simpler kind of way to get through our routine and you know, things that make our lives better and aren’t complicated, but that we know and we can trust are safe and good for us. And so, you know, our challenge as a brand is communicating that to to people and making them feel really confident that we’re you know, we’re they’re going to take a chance on us even though in a lot of cases they can’t touch or feel or smell the product before they buy it.

Kara Goldin 22:31
Definitely. So you started as a DTC company. And you. So that was my next question around. So you’re going into retailers? So you’re starting to branch out and get into more and more retailers? Yeah, how challenging is that to be able to get into retailers, and frankly, picking the right retailers to

Tracy Dubb 22:53
it’s extremely challenging. I mean, I think for, you know, I think any brand, probably category agnostic would tell you that trying to break into retail, and then perform while at retail and understand what the retailers want, you know, it’s as challenging, I think, in its own way is trying to reach that customer directly. You know, it’s, you’re layering two businesses on top of each other, and you have to kind of align the needs and the offering to work really well for both. And so for us, you know, we’re really just trying to focus on finding the right partner who we can lean into and drive traffic to them, but they also can tell our story and can understand our story. You know, I think one thing that’s hard as an entrepreneur, but I think probably requires discipline is is being being thoughtful and a bit picky about where you go, you know, it’s obviously tempting when you’re a small brand to just try and be everywhere, but finding the right partner who can like help your, your specific story get out there is probably more value add, even though it might not be as much revenue or, you know, traffic in the, in the short term. So, the last couple months or a year or so, for us has been about understanding the dynamics of retail and shoppers, which is hard, because that’s also constantly changing. You know, I think every retailer we speak to says like, well, this used to be the case and now this is the case and you know, everyone’s just kind of like doing it on the fly but we’re we’re sort of lucky in that the audience that we speak to or the people that really love our products, they’re they’re sort of start around 27 or 28. And they kind of go up to women in their 40s 50s and 60s and you know, we’re we’re making really serious product and I think the the thing that keeps people buying is the the value in the product you know, we’re not drugstore products, it’s not the cheapest thing out there, but it’s certainly not the most expensive and it’s definitely pound for pound, the best quality you’re gonna get. So, you know, we just like you just have to kind of nail that message home for people and really stand out in a sea of light Everyone kind of vying for the same attention.

Kara Goldin 25:04
Yeah, definitely. Another thing I’ve seen you guys do really well is storytelling. And I was looking on social media, because I, I’ve always believed that you really sharing your lie. And there’s probably people that will come across your product that have never, they don’t know the why they just, you know, like the cleanser or they like whatever. Yeah, but I think that it’s, it’s, it’s so key, obviously, social media, especially for beauty brands. But can you speak to that a little bit? If, like, don’t you think it’s a must, especially if you’re launching a product?

Tracy Dubb 25:39
Yeah, no, it’s something I was just spending all morning, you know, kind of mapping out our storytelling for the next while and I will spend the rest of the day doing the same thing. I think it’s sort of the whole thing for brands, which, you know, is the probably the thing that is maybe most different from 10 or 15 years ago, which is that the story and honestly, the people behind the brand and their story being authentic seem to matter so much, which is another thing I actually didn’t anticipate when I was thinking about, Okay, do I want to start this business? Can we do it like, it requires a lot, I think of the founder. And I feel like you have to put a lot of yourself out there. And, you know, in my case, I’m happy to do that. I don’t think that I think it’s a journey, and there’s probably always going to be more that I can be doing around that. But I think what I’ve learned, especially in beauty is people really want to hear from you and your words, and you know, they’re buying a product, like you said, they’re buying a cleanser, because they will maybe want a new cleanser, but they’re really staying because they’re like, this is a brand that, you know, on some level I connect with what they’re doing. So we constantly have to be talking about why and how we’re different and come into step into our world and see how we created this product. And, you know, I think it’s just really something for entrepreneurs to think about, because that in and of itself is a whole job. And, yeah, and I think like the pressure is on to always be churning out new content, and always be penetrating like the, you know, the next place where people are looking. And it’s, you know, it’s always changing. And, and I think, you know, I say this jokingly, too, sometimes, but to people, but I’m like, I didn’t know, I was getting into a content creation business when I was starting a skincare company. And I think that’s like, the least, it’s actually not a joke at all, it’s true, you know, you’re you’re always sort of thinking of like new ways to communicate to people. But you know, it creates a two way street, which I think can really pay off for a brand and in the long term as well, once it helps you figure out what’s resonating and and you know, then that can go inform the whole strategy of the company.

Kara Goldin 27:46
Yeah, definitely. And I think it’s your responsibility, not just as the content creator, but also as the CEO, especially in the early days to come up with where you want the consumer to go. Because as Steve Jobs used to say, you know, you don’t ask the consumer, you tell the consumer what they need. And I think it’s so true for every entrepreneur, that if you’re not going to actually guide them, then be ready for them to pick your product apart, right, because they just don’t get it, they don’t understand it. And especially when you’re launching something totally new that’s not out there, whether it’s ingredients in products, and I think this is true for every single category. So

Tracy Dubb 28:34
yeah, and I also don’t like I definitely wouldn’t have considered myself and don’t consider myself like a content creator. I think that’s why so many content creators have gone in launch brands, because it’s so natural for them to be churning out content all the time. But the reality is, is that they don’t have the expertise and the sort of differentiate her on the product side. So you kind of end up in this, you know, the consumer is like, definitely at a disadvantage, I think in today’s world, because you’re just constantly every when you open your email, when you open when you turn on your phone, you’re just being like, bombarded with messages, and everyone wants someone to tell them what to do. But, but you do, I think, as a customer have to think a little bit deeper, like, you know, who is sort of behind this message, who is even behind this influencer, you know, because now, like, there’s, I think in beauty, for example, there’s been a bit of a resurgence with these heritage brands, or these brands that are owned by larger conglomerates kind of coming back into the into the game a little bit not because they’re necessarily because their product is so great, but just because they have the budgets to pay for the influencers and pay for the ads and you know, and they feel like the the person who loses out in the end is the customer who’s just always buying something and then they’re like, oh, this didn’t work or this made my skin worse or this just was a bad experience, you know, but it’s hard. I mean, not everyone wants to spend hours researching and thinking like sometimes people just want somewhere to go where they know it’s an authority So I think like, that kind of is really why, like, we started our brand in this sort of real, like, I would say, peak of clean beauty. But we, you know, people always thought it was so weird that we were like, we don’t really want to talk about clean beauty. That’s, that’s like a marketing category that brands get put in, because they say, this is not in our product, but it doesn’t really speak to the efficacy of the product itself. And, you know, we just really want it to be transparent. And, and, and obviously, Transparency can mean a lot of things. And now it’s its own buzzword. But like for us, it’s just like, how do you establish trust? Like, how did they? How does our customers sort of know that we’re out there working for them to kind of bring them something that is truly unique and truly innovative, and will work well and will be a good price. And, you know, something that they can know that when we put out something new, they can try it, but you know, they’ll probably want to keep coming back to our product. And so think like some of the, you know, besides obviously, how big the company is, like, we look a lot at repeat purchase rate and how quickly people will repurchase and some of those indicators are super encouraging, especially when you’re an early brand to see okay, like this is something that people are not only buying once, but they’re coming back to purchase again, you know, no, it’s, I think that’s, you know, that’s a, that’s a great indicator.

Kara Goldin 31:16
So some of those people that are coming back, I’m sure have shared stories with you as that make you really feel like you’re doing the right thing, even though you’re pulling your hair out, or however you want to turn that but it’s there’s crazy days, right as an entrepreneur, but I always feel like the consumer feedback makes you know that you’re doing the right thing. Can you share a story that really kind of hits you that gave you a big smile? Maybe on one of those hard days that you said, oh, gosh, I’m really doing the right thing.

Tracy Dubb 31:52
Yeah, I mean, I think like, there’s not even just one time, like we get there’s different ways that I get feedback personally, and that we get feedback as a company, but but I actually have like, started to incorporate this into my like life because it feels so good. But you know, we get messages constantly that are like, I cannot say enough good things about how this toner has helped my skin like I was buying all these products, and I was just at my wit’s end. And then I started using this, and I really feel a difference. And I realized, like, I don’t often feel a difference, you know, with with products. And so, you know, we get that in our DMS, we get that in our email, we get that in our reviews, every once in a while I’ll run into someone on the street, and they’ll say this, they’ll say that to me. And those, like little nuggets of interaction are sort of what keeps me going. And, and I know, you know, I know that I first of all I have I have like, I think great radar, like I know when someone’s really telling the truth, because I can tell like exactly what happened for them, you know, with their skin and and I think that those, you know, those moments kind of keep us going. And they also inform the way that we build products because I’ve you know, I’ve realized, like, when people are like this, like I throw out all my other stuff, and I’m just using this, and I thought I needed more, but I actually need less, I just need stuff that works better. Like, we you know, for me, I’m like, Okay, how can we how can we like bring that to the masses? Really, you know, and how can we do that, like in every product that we make, and you know, and I think a lot of that has sort of led to us wanting to have these products that are multipurpose, easy to use, easy to understand, but like every kind of step of the way feel like okay, I’m really, you know, I really understand like what I’m doing here for my for my skin. Yeah,

Kara Goldin 33:32
I love that. So and I think simplicity is what I saw around your brand, it just feels really good. Not only from the, the the actual visual of it, but also the actual products. So they’re really super awesome. So best advice for for anybody out there founders that are thinking about starting a company and maybe somebody told you, as you’re making this leap into this world? What was kind of the best advice that somebody gave you as you started to think about building this company?

Tracy Dubb 34:09
Well, I am, I can think on the best advice because I’ve definitely gotten a lot of good advice. But I would say from my experience, my advice to anyone would be like, definitely open your network and sort of sci fi seek people that have talents that you don’t and have experiences that you don’t and really listen to them. Because, you know, I think it’s it’s easy when you’re wanting to start a business to be like, I just have to like do this at all costs. And I just need to like make this happen and get this to market and I think all of that is true of being a founder but I also think like if you can stop and really listen and get advice and get people who maybe know the space or know the product in a way that you don’t like excited about what you’re doing and and invested in your process. It’s just gonna make your company so much better. You know, and I think like the One thing that I’ve learned is you really can’t do it alone, no matter what your background is, no matter what you know, how much access you have to X, Y, and Z, like, you just cannot do it alone. And you know, and I think, really being thoughtful about who’s on your team and how you’re going to, like, round out the offering, so that everything is covered is, for me a really important first step, you know, and I feel like, just on a personal level, like we did a lot of that on the fly, and it has its way of working itself out. But you know, but I think that, like, if I could go back and do it all over again, I would have been like, step one, you know, talk to as many smart people as I possibly can and like, and and obsess over their advice and their feedback, because at the end of the day, you know, everyone has experiences that are valuable, and you just can’t have all of those experiences. And they’re, they’re only going to make you I think, a better founder. I don’t know if that’s novel advice. But I think that’s like, certainly my advice. And then, you know, I think on the other the other thing is, like you kind of touched on it a little is you have to really have conviction about product market fit. And you know, and you have to understand if this is a really, it could be a really good idea. But it could just be a really good idea to a small group of people. Or if this is something that you know, you have, we’ll be able to engage people on and evangelize them. Because you really can’t have I don’t think a business without those like, evangelizers out there in the world, those people that are taking the time to write in and say like, I love this so much, and I am buying it for everyone in my family like that is how you ultimately grow the brand. And so, you know, the rest is like you can you can pay for marketing and all that. But if you don’t have that organic sort of Spark there, then then I think it’s very hard to grow a company.

Kara Goldin 36:43
Yeah, totally. And obviously, wanting to use your products long term. I mean, that is, you know, I always say that, if, if you’re not, in my case, drinking the product, or wanting to put it on your skin, or whatever, it’s like that it starts sort of there. Like, if you’re not connecting with the consumer that ultimately is, is you’re hoping we’ll buy your product. So

Tracy Dubb 37:09
yeah, I am, I have a question for you that I love to entrepreneurs. But what like in your sort of journey, for lack of a better word? Is there any hire that kind of changed things for you? Like, is there any person along the way that that was like, unlocked, you know, either like your space, or you could like, you know, I just thought I like to ask people kind of like, who was that person? Or what would that person be if you were giving someone else advice?

Kara Goldin 37:38
Yeah, multiple points along the way? Well, first of all, I would say that in the very early days of any company, but we definitely saw this at hint that it was, I mean, look, I had an idea. And I had no beverage experience, I had just had my fourth child, I was not the poster child of somebody that you wanted to, like, go to work when I was I It was messy, right? Like, there were a lot of people who were saying, you’re insane that you’re doing this, you do not understand distribution. I am beyond the fact that I had seen Coca Cola and Pepsi trucks driving down the street, and I drink a ton of Diet Coke. That was it. That’s all I knew. And so I knew I could figure it out. But those people in the early days, you know, you really just want people that can give you hands right to be able to do it. Because I mean, they they don’t know whether or not you’re going to be successful. So you should be really lucky that they actually decided to just take a chance on you. Right. And it may not be long term I I’ve heard from, you know, a lot of founders over the years, you know, you you feel like it’s very personal when that first person quits. Right? Because you’re just like, you know, my baby’s ugly, right? And what did I do? Fundraising,

Tracy Dubb 39:04
like when you’re like raising money, or you’re talking to you know, people who might carry the brand and you get to know what you really have to like, resolve yourself to be like, this. This is not this is not reflect on where the brand is going, you know? Totally

Kara Goldin 39:17
Yeah, no, I mean, that’s a that’s a story in and of itself. I, I mean, I remember I had a lot of connections in Silicon Valley, just coming from tech. And there were a bunch of tech feces that wanted to know what I was doing. And they kept trying to find this tech angle, and I’m like, There’s no tech in the water. I mean, we weren’t even DTC when we were first getting started. And, and so, you know, they weren’t going to invest in a beverage company. They knew nothing about it. But again, I had never raised money before. So I always suggest to founders, like, have they invested in this category at all? I mean, it’s not to say that they wouldn’t invest in Tracy like, at some point. But yeah. But the chances are low. And again, if you have time to have one meeting, but the most valuable thing for founders is time, so you have to sort of calculate whether or not you know, that’s that is. But in terms of I mean, my husband came on as chief operating officer, and he was also general counsel. So that was, I actually, and I didn’t pay him for the first year. So that was really nice. You know, he was working for free. But seriously, I think, you know, when we launched direct to consumer, in 2012, I, I actually helped build our original website, it was this before Shopify, I mean, it was just, I had no idea what I was doing. But I was like, it’ll just be up, it’ll be enough for people to order, it’ll be fine. But when that first person came in and started, you know, really taking over that business and, and kind of really understood what it would take in order to scale and, yeah, that was super helpful. But you know, it’s, anyway, it’s a longer answer to your question, but I think it’s, it’s, there’s multiple pieces to it. But I think more than anything, what I’ve noticed is, the longer you stay around, right, and the longer you stay out in front of people, and I think that that is developing content, PR, getting a connection with the consumer, I think that that is when your job gets easier. Yeah,

Tracy Dubb 41:48
I think that that’s, I think that that’s really like insightful, and I feel like even, you know, on our on our, you know, lifetime time as a brand, it’s not that long, but it does feel different. When you’ve just been there for a little while, I think people sort of take you more seriously, and everyone, you know, everyone’s kind of looking out for their own job and their own goals as well. And so people don’t have to take as big of a risk on you. And you also become, you know, a more confident operator, like, I think even to your point about what type of investor Are you speaking to, I would say that, as an former investor, myself, you know, a lot of investors are looking for, like, they’re taking from their, you know, past experiences of success, and they’re trying to find the next that. And, you know, and I think that like truly innovative brands, sometimes they’re not the next that they’re, you know, they’re a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and, and I think investors, a lot of good investors can see that also. But sometimes you might just get frustrated, because you’re like, Oh, I’m not doing it the way like this company did. And you know, and my, my offering doesn’t feel like theirs. And so like, maybe I’m going about it all wrong, but I think it’s like important to contextualize the input, you’re getting like good and bad. And, and you have to kind of pick and choose because you do need to like evolve, I think, as a brand and evolve your pitch and evolve your offering. But I also think, from like a founder perspective, where you just have to, like, keep pushing that it’s important to kind of think to yourself, like, Okay, this feedback, you know, I’m going to take it, and I’m going to apply it here. And I’m going to keep on moving. Because otherwise, it’s very easy, you know, to get, I think, disillusioned and second guessed yourself, and you know, you have to not be second guessing yourself if you’re going to do this.

Kara Goldin 43:32
Yeah, totally. And I think too, that you have no idea why people got things funded. So I made totally crazy stories where, you know, certain people wanted to get in on that some other person’s fund. And so then they funded this anyway. You have no idea, right? And yeah, and I think I’ve seen it in Silicon Valley for too many years where, you know, it’s sort of it’s false sense of security and somewhere ways where I’ve seen engineers get things funded. Well, you know, that that doesn’t mean necessarily that they have a better product than you do. It means that that VC wants to have a relationship with that. Engineers. So anyway, I’ve seen I’ve seen it all and I’ve stopped trying to put the puzzle together because it can really distract you from what’s important. So very interesting. Well, Tracy, it was so nice to meet you and have you on and hear all about Isla and everything that you’re doing because it’s it is really terrific. I wish you the best of luck and I’ve already turned a few people on to it because I just think it’s such a great product. I have two daughters two who like automatically go into my bathroom and steal from me. So yeah, so yours was one of the products they’re like What is this? Oh my god, that’s amazing. So, yeah, so I’m sure they’ll be telling their friends as well. So well, thank you again, really appreciate it. And thanks, everybody for listening.

Tracy Dubb 45:10
Thank you so much.

Kara Goldin 45:12
Thanks again for listening to the Kara Goldin show. If you would, please give us a review and feel free to share this podcast with others who would benefit and of course, feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode of our podcast. Just a reminder that I can be found on all platforms at Kara Goldin. And if you want to hear more about my journey, I hope you will have a listen or pick up a copy of my book on daunted which I share my journey, including founding and building hint. We are here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And thanks everyone for listening. Have a great rest of the week, and 2023 and goodbye for now. Before we sign off, I want to talk to you about fear. People like to talk about fearless leaders. But achieving big goals isn’t about fearlessness. Successful leaders recognize their fears and decide to deal with them head on in order to move forward. This is where my new book undaunted comes in. This book is designed for anyone who wants to succeed in the face of fear, overcome doubts and live a little undaunted. Order your copy today at undaunted, the book.com and learn how to look your doubts and doubters in the eye and achieve your dreams. For a limited time. You’ll also receive a free case of hint water. Do you have a question for me or want to nominate an innovator to spotlight send me a tweet at Kara Goldin and let me know. And if you liked what you heard, please leave me a review on Apple podcasts. You can also follow along with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn at Kara Goldin. Thanks for listening