Lejla Cas: Founder of KNESKO

Episode 577

On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, we are joined by the innovative Lejla Cas, founder of KNESKO. Lejla dives into her journey from beginning her career in Australia to establishing KNESKO, a pioneering skincare brand that harmonizes luxury with spiritual healing. She shares her transition to the United States, her experience working with global beauty brands, and the epiphany that led her to create her gem-infused, high-vibrational skincare line. Lejla discusses how her background in product development and her intuitive approach has helped her design unique skincare solutions that rejuvenate both skin and soul.

Lejla also opens up about the challenges and triumphs of expanding her brand into over 1000 top-tier spas and becoming a staple among celebrities. With KNESKO's recent launch of a Body Collection, she elaborates on extending her skincare philosophy to body care, ensuring that her customers experience a comprehensive nurturing and healing process. Tune in to learn how Lejla Cas blends scientific expertise with spiritual insights to innovate within the beauty industry and profoundly impact wellness and self-care. Get ready—you don’t want to miss a minute of this inspiring episode! Now on The Kara Goldin Show.

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Transcript

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 be you. Just want to make sure you will get knocked down. But just make sure you don’t get knocked out, knocked out. So your only choice should be go focus on what you can 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, and we’re here for the Kara Goldin show. So excited to have our next guest here. Lejla Cas is the founder of KNESKO, and if you have not heard of KNESKO, hopefully you’ve been in some incredible spa where you’ve had one of their treatments and that are so luxurious, but seriously, these are the creams that are to die for. Jam infused high vibrational skincare line that marries luxury with spiritual healing. And Lejla started her career in Australia, she moved to the US in 2007 and she worked on many beauty brands and then also just helped a lot of private clients actually figure out what was best for them. But her skin care products that she created with KNESKO in 2012 are just absolutely like I said to die for. We’ll get into where you can purchase them, where you can try them, what makes up the products, how they’re crafted, all of those things. But I’m so excited to have her here to tell the back story around building this incredible brand. So welcome. Lejla. Nice to meet

Lejla Cas 2:00
you. Nice to meet you as well. Thank you so much for having me

Kara Goldin 2:03
so so beautiful. And I shared with Lejla that I hadn’t actually thought I had tried the products, but now that she’s telling me that a little bit about where else they’re used, besides being available at incredible retail locations, and, of course, online, it’s, I think I definitely have had them at some point and said, What is this? But can you share the story? Lejla behind I guess first your early career in the beauty industry and what led you to actually create? KNESKO,

Lejla Cas 2:41
yeah, absolutely. So I grew up in Australia, and I went to Beauty School right after high school, that was like, my thing, like, I remember talking to my dad, and he’s like, so what do you want to be like a psychologist? What kind of doctor? And I was like, I definitely want to be in beauty industry. And he was like, what is that? And I and I was like, this is something that I want to do, and I’ve kind of followed that intuition since that that conversation, like I’ve always wanted to be in beauty industry, and I ended up going to beauty school in Australia and working for global brands there, and then moving to America. I was actually sponsored when I was very young. I was nominated to move to America and help this Australian company grow. And before you know it, here I am staying. Met my husband, you know the old traditional way, who is also the co founder with you know of KNESKO skin actually met him in Hollywood nightclub when that was a thing. So it happened. And you know, we kind of just, you know, been in beauty industry for very long time. Over 24 years, my career was really spammy, to travel internationally, and I launched KNESKO skin in 2012 after working for other people for a very long time and being of service with in the industry that I love dearly so much, I really wanted to create a brand that promotes self love, self care slowing down, and that really uses my greatest love of energy, work, skincare and crystals, gemstones, and manifesting that into KNESKO, which is the high vibrational skincare line, lifestyle brand to me, that I’m really so proud of. But I’ve been a very hands on Fauci Kara, like, from day one, like, I’ve held every position in the company, from sales to product knowledge. You know, to like training. Product Development is my biggest focus right now. I love it so much. But, you know, unpacking boxes, delivering products, I’ve literally am that founder to this day. I’m very hands on, very involved with my team and my clients, because I love to give them the personal touch.

Kara Goldin 4:57
I love that. It’s so great. So. When you describe KNESKO to somebody who was not as familiar with it, how would you describe it? Are there you just launched a body collection, which we’ll get to. But how would you what was sort of the start of this where? What did you develop first? Yeah,

Lejla Cas 5:19
so after being in the beauty industry, you know, on my own, doing other things for a while, so I launched net cost skin in 2012 so it’s going to be 14 years, 14 years ago. And before that, you know, I was always a high achiever. I’ve always had a career from a young age, traveling and, you know, as I mentioned, but during that last few years of my career, in my 20s, I did experience excessive burnout, like I can truly say that I went through a period of depression, anxiety. I think we all in our lives go through this from time to time, and during that time, I really knew that I needed to really slow down and kind of take care of myself. I’ve always been an energy healer. That’s something that I used in my career. It’s helped me greatly. Just meditation and like crystal therapy, ARMA therapy, so I always knew to kind of go within. But, you know, we live in a very fast paced world, and just kept pushing me. And I was always traveling and doing things. So the aha moment came for me, Kara, when I had that period of, I call it darkness, out of which the light emerged, you know, because I realized that I needed to rest and heal and recharge before I can give more of myself to other people. And that’s when I knew that my next phase in my life is going to be being of service, creating most beautiful brand that promotes self love, care that is made with the most ethically sourced ingredients, clean, conscious and everything the KNESKO is. So, you know, I needed to feel for me. It came after that period of like being so high achieving, and then working for other people, and then realizing that I want to do this my own way and but I needed to take a minute to rest, and I honored my body for the good one year what I was like, I need to recharge and start again, but before I do that, I really want to do something that it’s meaningful. Obviously, I’m in business, so there is gains in that. But I wanted to be good like for my soul, and so I use my love of everything to become an entrepreneur. Me and my husband, we actually saved our wedding money so we did not have a wedding. We crashed Santa Monica Beach. I know literally, we were like, in front of shutters. We didn’t go that far. We were going to do Malibu, but I was like, that’s just too far. We might miss it with traffic. So let’s just take this one so funny, and that’s literally. And then we started our brand from that savings

Kara Goldin 7:49
the and so how many products, how many SKUs did you actually launch with?

Lejla Cas 7:53
I launched with my gold repair mask. This is our OG. It’s gainers, cult following with celebrities, influencers globally, resorts and spas. We saved up just enough to really work on product development perfect our formulations. We do have a proprietary gem Clinical Technology, so we know it costs a lot of money to formulate. And as a self, self, self made company, right? Like we don’t have, like, the investors, we were just kind of bootstrapping. Gold was our first global bestseller, and I was so passionate about it, full of just kind of wanting to share with the world. And so I walked into Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Rodeo Drive, my first walking cold calling, and I left the product, and they called me literally, five days later, and I was at first, I was like, was that a wrong number? Actually called the number back, making sure I heard the name correctly. But today, we actually sold in over 64 seasons around the world. And you know, we’ve really been able to grow our business word of mouth because of the quality of the product, the customer service, and everything that I and my team put in.

Kara Goldin 9:08
Yeah, it’s incredible. So would you say that you really are known for those masks? Still to this day, I know you’ve launched other products, but the mask is really kind of the hero product,

Lejla Cas 9:21
the mask is the hero. We have six collections. We have nano gold repair, diamond radiance. So it’s all about brightening. We have Rose Quartz antioxidant, Black Pearl detox, Amethyst hydrate and green Jade calm. So there’s one for each skin condition. But as you mentioned, we did expand two years ago, because I am very passionate about the industry. And so we expanded into daily, daily face theorems, which is so important for maintenance and just ongoing skin health. And I knew that we were missing that daily component. And then recently, as you mentioned, we launched the body, which is my skincare for the body. So it’s. Formulated very differently from your traditional lotions. It’s really designed to target correct and maintain this beautiful skin health.

Kara Goldin 10:08
No, they’re so, so nice, and the masks are just like to die for, for sure. So how did you integrate gemstone therapy? I mean, it’s it. They’re not grainy at all right? I think people think that if you’re going to have gems in there, that they’re going to feel like some sort of graininess, and you really don’t. They’re the opposite of that. There’s just, you know, this cashmere, as you called it, experience. So how do you do that? So

Lejla Cas 10:37
we actually work with cosmetic grade gems and minerals. It’s not like you go grab, you know, grab a rock and put it in. It’s definitely very, very fine particles. You don’t even see that with the naked eye. It’s part of the, like, the cosmetic formulations. But I have a team of chemists, dermatologists, I’m, like, on board that I work with under my direction. We really work on, you know, this formulation. So gemstones are part of my clinical formula. So the gem clinical technologies, infusing these gemstone particle with these beautiful, clean clinical ingredients, backed by science that we all love, like niacinamide and peptides and collagen and all these beautiful ingredients. So it is just part of our proprietary process, but it is like you said. It’s very you don’t see it. It’s like you feel it on your skin. It just part of that formulation to optimize the livery of these amazing ingredients. And then from a more a meta, like, from a more like a metaphysical sense, it is definitely high vibrational. It is a, if I may say, a conscious formulation, right? Let’s say it’s full of energy and love and light, and it just has a lot of meaning to me.

Kara Goldin 11:47
You went to cosmetology school, so you’re able to do this. Do you actually do facial still? Or, Yes,

Lejla Cas 11:54
I have private clients, so yeah, I, you know, I work with a few key celebrities, but I spend a lot of my time today, really as being a brand founder, really like working on the next 510, years of the brand innovation, what’s coming. And a lot of my time is spent really being, you know, a leader, really motivating my team, because we have a beautiful team now, and we’ve grown to a position that, you know, we can do a few things more now. So for me today, I just, I’m feel the same Kara, like I’m Alpha task. I go where I’m needed. If somebody’s like, come in. You know, I was recently on The Real Housewives, you know, on the show, they’re like, come to a facial for us. And on the Kardashians few years ago. But then on my other days, I’m a mom. I have a five and a seven year old entrepreneur. You know, I work on my next project. So I definitely have a very interesting daily routine. It’s never the same. I

Kara Goldin 12:50
love it. So where did the name KNESKO come from?

Lejla Cas 12:53
So KNESKO is actually a family last names. It’s mine and my husband’s So Kenny from his side and SK or from my last name. And we wanted something that’s really personal, that you know, that represents love, intuition, passion, that we put into our own personal lives as well as our daily lives. As I said, everything I wanted to do when I launched my brand had to have meaning. It wasn’t just going to be another job. It had to have a meaning for me and meaning for my clients, and that is how I see my brand is a journey to my clients, to remind themselves to slow down, to take care of themselves. We infuse mantras into our products because of the gemstones that are part of each collection. So we talk a lot about, like, slowing down, and you mentioned mask, the way it’s designed, it is the most luxurious hydrogel mask on the market. So that’s actually designed strategically to help you relax. When you put it on, it feels like a weighted like a blanket on your skin, and it’s heavy, it’s full of serum. So people always tell me, Lejla, I’m so busy to do this. And then they put it on. I’m like, Oh my God. Like, this feels so good. I’m going to leave it on for 10 minutes. Next thing you know, they’re still sitting there 40 minutes later. And I’m like, I achieved my goal.

Kara Goldin 14:11
Yeah, exactly I did too. I just, I laid down and fell asleep with one on at one point. So they’re, they’re just really nice, and they do remind you to just relax and and take it, take a moment, right for sure, which I think we all need to do. So what has been the most challenging things of launching your own product line? Would you say? You know, as you said, you you’ve been a very hands on founder. You got the product into the initial spas and distribution points. You’re available as well. I should mention that Neiman Marcus and obviously online too. But what has been like the most challenging part of building and growing this business? So.

Lejla Cas 14:59
From the early day, my husband and I, we decided to do it on our own. So really bootstrapping, and we still self fund the company. And I think that is the hardest thing, is like, you know, funding these projects and and just kind of making sure you do in a timely manner where it’s kind of like, you have to balance out, like the ambition with what makes sense strategically, like, right now I’m already working on, like, 2026 and I just want to let it go right now when I tell the whole world, you know, I’m a creator. I love to develop these beautiful products, but, you know, you have to kind of wait for the right time. I think, honestly, like, just the speed of that, like growth, like KNESKO, has always been slow and steady. Kind of mentality wins the race. Like, where, you know, this is my retirement. This is something that, like, I want to have for my like, girls one day, if they want the business. So I’m into this for passion and love for the industry. So I feel like you see brands sometimes, and like they just come out of nowhere. Next thing you know, they’ve sold their company. Like, how they’re doing. They’re doing all these extra marketing dollar spends and just just budget, really, like just balancing the budget with being self funded and and staying grounded. You know, you see people doing so many different things, and you like, kind of check in with yourself and be like, Okay, why am I in this? You know, I’m not in a rush. I just want to do the right correct way, and I want to put everything I have in it. So I think that balance of ambition with what makes sense and going in the right forward way has always been a little bit like, I’m realizing more than ever something that it’s, it’s a good it’s a good discipline. You need discipline. You know,

Kara Goldin 16:43
I feel like we’ve talked to a number of entrepreneurs and in the beauty industry, and I think this is true in other industries too, but there seems to be this move and shift in skincare to be like less products that I think people are just overwhelmed with too many things that they have to use. I’d love to hear your take on that, like, what trends, where do you think skin care is going as you talk to consumers as well, and what is your sense?

Lejla Cas 17:15
Yeah, no, I agree with you. I mean, it’s so easy not to launch a business in many ways, right? So there’s a lot of product on the market, and there’s just people getting over stimulated. My honest belief has always been less is more approach for everything that I do with my skin in general, you know, and for the most part, like I said, the first 10 years of our business, we were just specialty treatments, math, rush to do all these extra things. I really wanted to do it in a timely manner when it made sense, and to build that loyalty and trust, which I believe sometimes, you know, it takes time, right? So I agree with you. I think that you know, simplifying your routine is really important. And I think using product and make the most of the sense that you can maintain and continue doing. You see, sometimes we go get excited, and we purchase so many different things, and then you end up using one. I’d rather you, you commit to three things and do them daily. Like, you know, a good serum. Like, I’m a big face serum person. I’m asking once a week, and I do my SPF no matter what. So like deciding on what’s manageable for you and sticking with that most simplified routine. But obviously, some things are much needed in in everybody’s that, you know, skincare routine, like you want to cleanse your face every day. You know what I mean? Right? Right?

Kara Goldin 18:32
No, that’s so, so interesting. So when you think about the consumer and kind of getting the word out, because there’s still, you know, I think that it’s hard, right, without spending a lot of money to kind of get the word out, and then you want people to try your product too. What do you think is sort of the best strategy for getting the word out about the product? And I think, I mean, you’re a great example for people, for sure that you know you’re gonna you’re living and breathing your own product, and especially when you’re on some of these shows, and you’ve got a ton of celebrities that are using the product too, and hopefully you get press around that as well. But how do you think, what’s the best strategy for kind of getting, you know, such a strong following with these consumers.

Lejla Cas 19:24
Again, I think going back from everything we know, because we had to build flow, right? That was my story. You know, it was. We started slow. It starts with trust, creating products that people like, that actually what they promise, because if the product is not good, it’s not going to go far, right, they can eventually figure it out. So for us, it was all about making sure that we are strategic and where we’re going to go first. So we went first to resorts and spas and really build trust with spas and spa directors and and then they talk. Work. And they really, you know, help you, you know, along the way they they see your vision. This can work the other way too, if you decide to go direct to retail first, because a lot of brands do that, and that’s great. But for me, and you know, obviously now with a different phase where we do have marketing, of course, we have, you know, we really try to promote our products for our PR agency and and just gifting and just making sure that a lot of people are trying the product. And, you know, we have, obviously, we do try to promote through ads, because you don’t have a choice. You know, algorithm, otherwise, doesn’t show you beautiful imagery that you spend all this money on, because it’s just so good political and you know how it is like so, you know, it’s very hard for the brands today, because you just never have the 100% answer. So you just have to just be consistent with all your efforts in the best possible way that you can. And so for us, we’re just trying to, you know, participate in as much as we can without overspending and doing just doing it because everybody else is doing it. Yeah,

Kara Goldin 21:07
definitely. I think that’s that’s a great way to explain that. So how do you navigate the ever evolving landscape of, you know, new ideas in the beauty industry there seems like it’s probably more trends that are out there in the beauty industry than any other industry right today, it’s this. Today, it’s that. And I feel like, you know, social media, like Tiktok, of course, or all these things, and yet you’ve got an amazing product that is so luxurious and wonderful, and it works. But as a founder, how do you navigate that? Like, I guess it’s also a question of, you know, when do you actually develop new products? If you develop new products too?

Lejla Cas 21:55
Yeah, a great question, because I have to be honest with you, and this is I may be very different from other founders, and I guess this is where I’ll tell you what I do. You can tell me from what you know, that’s the case, but I have never followed trends. I just really base it for me of my knowledge of the industry, because I’ve been an hands on Aesthetician for over 24 years. So I have a very good sense of what is needed in a daily routine. For me, I really based my product development on my intuition. And it’s very different people, because when I launched my body line, I literally was like, Oh, my God. I really wish I can have a body line that is like correcting my pigment is working on my skin tone texture, and I couldn’t find anything before that, so I started developing based on what I think I need, what my clients are telling me, and then later on, I’m realizing the body skincare is now becoming a trend. And I swear to God, I did not know that was gonna happen. So I don’t, I’m not the I do a lot of my product planning based on just the knowledge of the industry and what I think is missing in my brand and what I want to add as a value to my clients. So I don’t get too into like reading and like trying to research, like, I don’t do any of that, because then gets overwhelming, and sometimes, like, I can’t do that. I can’t do that, just too much, and just, it’s just an extra energy I do basic reading, what I think is trending, but for most part, inside intuitively. And that’s kind of part of my brand is, like I lead by intuition, and that’s a blend of science with spirituality, is like it? Everything kind of works out for me that way. That’s what I’ve realized.

Kara Goldin 23:48
No, I think that’s so true. So looking back on, you know, those early days, I always say, like, you know, we probably forget about how hard it was and all the challenges. We remember, the crazy stories along the way, but looking back, what’s the one thing you wish you would have known going into creating the business? I think, I think so often people are, you know, they’ve got this great idea for me, it’s, you know, I wanted to launch a product that had fruit, no sweeteners in it, and I had no idea what I was getting into. Like, I was, you know, I got it on the shelf at Whole Foods. Like, I mean, that’s my story versus your story of getting it into your first spa, right? Like, you’re excited, and you get even more excited when they reorder. But there’s so much else to do, right? So what is the one thing you wish you knew before launching KNESKO?

Lejla Cas 24:48
Well, now it’s actually a great example of maybe answering this question for you, because for the first 10 years, we were US based, we had like distributors and a few kind. Countries, but now we actually launched Australia as our second company. I’m from there, so decided to launch my expand, so expanding to Australia and to Europe. And so we’re doing that directly, you know, so we don’t have distributors for those country. And I’m like, I want to take on the challenge. I want to replicate what I did in the United States, and I want to do it in Australia and in Europe. And as I’m sitting here this morning, I’m like, saying to my husband, wow, like, suddenly my day is becoming a 14 hour day or 15 hour day, because now you’re dealing with international time zones. And I think going back to the beginning, I think, you know, people think starting your own business, obviously, you have the freedom, you know, you can do many things, but also you really work a lot, and you dedicate a lot of your life to it. And so I guess I wish I knew that it was going to be very long hours more than they are, but I love what I do. That’s the beautiful thing, like when you love your job and you are passionate about your message. I definitely feel like I’m lucky in that way, that I don’t feel like it’s work. It’s really important to have that passion with what you’re doing, but it just a lot of resources, also that you put in, you know, it’s not as easy as it looks. And also it’s not overnight, you know, doesn’t happen overnight. It really does take time, and that’s a beautiful thing, like focusing on the journey, not the destination. And if you can enjoy the journey and have fun and just be creative, and that is what I focus on. I don’t know where this is going to go. I’m really focused on the journey, and that is probably one thing that I feel very strongly about at this time of my career. That’s incredible.

Kara Goldin 26:47
Well, thank you so much. I really, really loved hearing all about KNESKO. Lejla Cas, founder of KNESKO, everybody needs to try this product if they haven’t already, but to hear the back story is just absolutely incredible. We’ll have all the info in the show notes as well. But thank you so much Lejla,

Lejla Cas 27:06
thank you so much Kara. Thank you for having me.

Kara Goldin 27:09
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, I would love to hear from you too. So feel free to DM me, and if you want to hear more about my journey, I hope you will have a listen or pick up a copy of my Wall Street Journal, best selling book undaunted, where I share more about my journey, including founding and building hint. We are here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Thanks for listening, and goodbye for now. You.

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