Lisa Manice: Co-Founder & CEO of Preston Lane

Episode 664

On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, we’re joined by Lisa Manice, Co-Founder and CEO of Preston Lane, a brand redefining luxury home care with European craftsmanship and plant-powered ingredients. Lisa’s career is nothing short of extraordinary—before launching Preston Lane, she helped shape some of the biggest names in beauty, fashion, and luxury. Now, she’s bringing that expertise to home and lifestyle, proving that everyday essentials can be both beautiful and effective.
In our conversation, Lisa shares the inspiration behind Preston Lane—how she identified a gap in the market, built a brand that blends high-end design with accessibility, and scaled quickly in a competitive space. We dive into the power of brand storytelling, the importance of sustainability in product development, and the art of building partnerships with celebrities and legacy brands. Lisa also gives insight into what it takes to launch and grow a challenger brand in an industry dominated by household names.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a brand strategist, or someone who loves innovative lifestyle products, this episode is full of lessons on building a modern brand that stands out. Tune in to hear Lisa’s journey and what’s next for Preston Lane. Now on The Kara Goldin Show.

Resources from
this episode:

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, and welcome back to the Kara Goldin show. I’m so, so excited to have my next guest here. We have Lisa Manice, who is the co founder and CEO of a fairly new brand called Preston Lane. And Lisa is a powerhouse in building consumer brands, typically has been behind the scenes. She and Preston are. They’ve been working together for years in some incredible beauty, fashion, luxury brands that you would know the names of, Ralph Lauren, Kylie, Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Oprah, Kanya West, you name it, lots of incredible, incredible behind the scenes. Was always Lisa’s forte, and now she has come forward with Preston and launched this incredible brand, Preston Lane. I’m actually if you’re watching this video, I have some of her lotion right here, which is absolutely lovely, and she’s really defining home and lifestyle products, bringing European luxury into everyday living and in a clean and wonderful way. So I cannot wait to hear more from Lisa about everything that she is doing. So welcome, Lisa, how are you?

Lisa Manice 2:03
I’m good. How are you? Kara, thank you so much for having me. I’m really honored to be part of this and love what you’re doing. And I really am a long, lifelong fan of hint water, and so are my my entire household. So thank you as well.

Kara Goldin 2:18
Oh, thank you so, so excited. Well, I of course love that you called out hint water too. So it’s my, my baby. I always call it my fifth child. So it’s, you know, definitely close to my heart. So let’s start at the beginning of, first of all, of Preston Lane. So you started the brand about, or I should say, it launched about seven months ago. But can you give us the 32nd ish elevator pitch on what you’re doing with Preston Lane? Yeah,

Lisa Manice 2:50
so Preston Lane was really, I mean, a life both Preston and I love bringing great products to market, and we really, I mean, this started in the height of the pandemic, where we were thinking about different ways to bring joy and elegance to everyday life, and obviously spending a lot of time cleaning our houses and doing other things. And so we really thought that there was a void in the market, in all these luxury brands that we had grown to love, by radio and Aesop and diptique and and by and and lalabo, and they all had these fine fragrance elements. And then you sort of had these other brands that we obviously really respect, of the Mrs. Myers and methods, and where, you know, you had really great brands and luxury, and then you had really great brands at mass, and what was kind of happening in the middle, and how was there a way to bring fine fragrance, and also European I mean, the European standards in beauty are so much farther advanced and food are so much farther ahead than the US. So was there a way to bring clean products in beautiful design packaging to everyone’s everyday life? And how can we bring it at a great price point? And so that was sort of the goal, and it seemed pretty lofty at the time, but and it took us a while to find the right you know, we believe in standing on the shoulders of giants and finding the right partners to kind of help bring each part to fruition, but that’s what we’re trying to do, and making home care, the new self care, and you’re seeing it in other trends, in the everyday homes. And we wanted it to be part of your everyday life, in your kitchen and your bathrooms and and that’s where we started.

Kara Goldin 4:32
Well, it’s they’re beautiful products. You guys have done an incredible job getting this off to where it is today. I love the story behind you and Preston getting together. I mean, you were both kind of behind the scenes right in building out other people’s brands. So what made you decide to partner together, to finally decide we’re going to go and do this, Preston

Lisa Manice 4:57
and I have worked together. For almost 15 years, and we have done it. We have worked on behalf of some of the best companies around the world and the end and the biggest entrepreneurs and individuals, and always had a front row seat to thinking differently and global exposure. Which which we take, you know, which is so we’re so grateful for all the experiences and and in the height of 2020 as we were sort of solving problems on behalf of his respective clients, or my respective clients, he had his own marketing and advertising and and social media agency, and really was behind as Poppy grew and some of the other big household, CPG brands that you know, and then I was working on behalf of some of the people that you mentioned, and then other, you know, big private equity and and we just sort of sat there and thought about, well, if we could combine our superpowers and bring something to market that could Touch American households that people needed in their everyday life, then that would bring us a way to bring more happiness and joy into the world. Number one. Number two, it would let us form a company where all these amazing people work with us and around us. Could we could focus our energies towards building one thing, as opposed to being sort of spread over a multitude of different projects and but Preston, I really wanted to be thoughtful, and we wanted to be find a void and and so it took us a minute, and we sort of started cooking it up in our own respective kitchen, and then dated a variety of different suppliers around The world. Was actually the hardest part to actually crack and then and then we needed to lay the lily pads for we believe in content, commerce and community. So part of commerce, while DTC, obviously is a huge part of our business, we really believe in the power of retail, and we love certain retailers. So we first called Nordstrom, and then, and then we sort of let let it open from there, but we really wanted to make sure that we brought them in early on, into making sure that it wasn’t just us talking ourselves, that we wanted to make sure that this product had a product market fit in great retail stores as well.

Kara Goldin 7:18
So you both have worked with a ton of a list brands and influencers who have become brands as well. But what are some of the lessons that you learned from those experiences that you applied when you decided to launch your own brand? One

Lisa Manice 7:39
of the things that probably stands is kind of the commonality between really extraordinary influencers and really top luxury brands is, is the storytelling element, right? So we really wanted to make sure that everything had an authentic story. And we thought about how we were going to bring it to market and bring our communities along with us. So each one of our products and each one of the fragrances is actually named after a city and a place that was either near and dear to my heart or Preston’s heart and and we sort of built it from there. And I mean watching. And then the other thing that we’ve learned, especially with the celebrities and the influencers, is at the point in time, you find that magical product that the world wants. And you you talk about products going viral, you have to then ensure that the Lego set behind and the system behind you can scale at the at the speed and the and and and the and the the you need to be able to be agile and build with speed and stand on the shoulders of giants, even though you’re so small, you’re like, but I have this vision of being so big, so it’s it’s trying to make sure that you, you put these big partners behind you, and that’s where President I, over our 20 something year careers, had built a lot of bridges in our lives. So when we called these bigger players, even though we were teeny tiny. We said, Just believe in us for now and then come along on this journey. And so we do have these extraordinary we can stand on the shoulders of giants. So when this does go viral, we have the ability to produce. We have the ability to scale. We met with a huge national retailer last year, and they’re like, so how quickly could you be in these all these doors, and we’re like, four months, and they were like, We will, and we weren’t even launched. We weren’t even live and and so it, but it was purpose built that way, right? And it’s because you’re right. It’s the lessons we learned by having a front row seat to watching others and what their what the milestones for success were, and what the ingredients you needed to have behind you to set it up for success. So

Kara Goldin 9:46
you mentioned Nordstroms as and so when you launched, what initially launched, you focused on DTC, obviously, and then a few retailers who else besides Nordstrom. Did you pick as your launch partners? So

Lisa Manice 10:03
we did it. So the cadence was, we started DTC, and then we did we went and met Nordstrom, super early, and that family is just extraordinary. And we were sort of also, I mean, the same, the same values and principles and ethics that I applied home. And Preston’s growing up, his mom is just the loveliest person on the planet. My parents, I mean, we’re all built from the same DNA, and everyone on our team, and so that was also important. Like, how can we have to be Win Win partnerships? How can we re help Nordstrom bring back the magic of home in their home department, while also launching this brand. So in addition to the products that you’ve seen, we said, what else are you missing? Where do you think there’s a void? And they gave us a laundry list air care and other home gifts. If you’re going to a dinner party and you don’t want to bring wine into flowers, what do you bring? And so if you don’t want to bring one of our candles or one of these first five products, we’ve started to develop an array where you can build the world of I mean, think about like Ralph Lauren, both Preston and I had a front row seat to seeing how that business went from ties to the world of right? And so thinking through what else could complement this. And it’s both. It’s both. It’s helpful for us and it’s helpful for them. Because if we can start to build the world around these products and build how we want it to look, and build it out through additional products. One, it brings people into that, into that department. And two, if they don’t want this, then there’s an array of choice of things they do want. And then we have this ability to scale and be nimble and help go at a pace that other brands don’t necessarily go at. So we went there, first and and and then, and we really believe that as a place of discovery, and they’ve been extraordinary partners. And we’re around the world, around the US with them. We’re in their top 26 doors and then, obviously DTC, and then our DTC, and then the second big partner we rolled out was you brought, I mean, you know this with hint, but Amazon has this extraordinary new model where they’ve recognized that content, commerce and community, those three pillars all converge from your living room to my living room, right? So my teenage daughters are never going to pick up a magazine and go to a department store. So those are big, huge industries that are being disrupted. So Amazon has recognized this ability that in order to keep a brand and the brand happy on their platform, they have this new model where you can build out the storefront. So so that’s what we did. We built out a proprietary storefront that has all the storytelling elements that you referenced earlier, so that you don’t if you get to that page, you now understand the ethos of the brand from video or from pictures or anything else. So it’s less of just discovery in a marketplace. And then our third retail partner was Field of Dreams, if you build it, hopefully they will come. And we wanted to show what the world of press and link looked like, so we went to related and we opened up a store in pop up in the holidays, which is still open and and closing shortly, but it’s down in luxury lane of Hudson Yards, and it’s been, it’s been so much fun. Yeah. So those were our three partners that we sort of started with.

Kara Goldin 13:26
How many SKUs Did you launch with initially, and what were the different categories within the within home products did you launch with?

Lisa Manice 13:35
So we had this really nice guy that I’ve done a lot of other work with who, who had had a front row seat to watching method, and he’s like, these are the, these are the four skews that really kind of make Method, Method, and then sprinkle in. That was 20 something years ago they launched sprinkle in, then bringing fine fragrance. So then we wanted to be, we wanted the consumer to have a choice of fine fragrance. So we decided to launch. We launched with four fine fragrances across five key products. So in addition to the four products that you know kind of you are, norm that you normally see in a method and Mrs. Myers, we also went into candles, and it was just something that Preston had before, something we knew a lot about, and something we loved, and obviously the consumer, that’s a really easy way. That’s an easy leap in fine fragrance. So we needed to get the people into the fine fragrance and then bring them in the journey into an all purpose cleaner and a dish soap and a hand wash and a hand lotion. And so that’s so we started with five products. We started with 20 skews across four fragrances. And then as we met with the retailers, they said, Well, you know, similar to the influencer brands you reference, we need to have newness, so we need to have seasonal drops. So we actually launched, for the fall, a candle called stone bridge that was just really cozy and fun. And then for winter, we launched the big the. Winter watch, and and, and we just, we tried it in candles first to just see if we got if our consumer was receptive. And what’s amazing is because Preston so engaged on online, and because also we have a DTC, like the combination and the data, and then the store, we all these consumers said, well, we want this winter watch in APC. We want it in hand wash and we want it in hand lotion. So, you know, we used it as kind of like a way to see what does the consumer actually want from us and where can we have so stay tuned for next Christmas and the holiday season to see what else. You know. It was very well received and great.

Kara Goldin 15:40
What has been the most surprising aspect? I mean, you’ve been behind the scenes and helping launch many brands, and obviously you’ve met with many of these different partnerships that you’re now going in and launching your own brand. But what has probably been the most surprising point to you, and in trying to launch your own brand, I guess maybe to some extent, you weren’t as known, right, and so and so. Now I would imagine that people would be receptive to you, but, but you know, it still was there anything that was more hard than you actually thought it would be.

Lisa Manice 16:26
I mean, we had some pretty extraordinary relationships, I guess, mainly beauty. They were in the United States of these huge players that we thought, well, they can make anything, and they make anything for everyone. So no big deal. And and then we had some pretty we had standards that we really wanted to meet. And so it was getting the the it was harder for us to find the initial partner to make, not the candles, but the other four SKUs than we had initially thought at the quality. We wanted to bring luxury quality at a more affordable price point. And so we want and then we wanted it to be the most clean possible. And the most like our bottles are even recycled plastic Made in Italy. And then the only components that are really coming from Asia are the actual like sprayers and those in those tops. But that was probably challenge number one that we were I said, this can be easier than it was. It was, it was much more complicated than we thought, that we gave it credit for, just given, given who we knew in the United States. And then the second part, I think probably was at the beginning, we had a lot of leaks, sending, sending, sending liquid products, DGC, we underestimated just how I mean packages are thrown on doorsteps, right? So we just underestimated how many on so we we fixed that as well. And I just think it’s just about being nimble and taking the problems as they come, and being and as you say, like you’re in every I mean, one day Preston was answering all the customer service emails, and he writes back to this woman, and he’s like, No, this is Preston. And she’s like, You mean, like, Preston, that’s on the Today Show, Preston? And he’s like, Yeah. And she just like, she is, like, he made her world. I mean, it was amazing. And, you know, so I just think, you know, it’s, it’s not easy starting a business, and you have to be willing to roll up your sleeves, and it’s 24/7 and it just, it’s just a living, breathing, I mean, it’s what you said about hint. It’s like, it’s another child, and it just, it takes different stages, and it takes different amount of patience and Yeah, and just being thoughtful and and nimble as it goes, Yeah,

Kara Goldin 18:48
I think also just being willing to sort of roll up your sleeves to, as you said, and being and fix problems too. And obviously you’ve seen that you can be the most luxury, well known brand and or you can be a startup as as you all are, but you have to be willing to listen to the consumer and fix the problem as quick as possible in order and have that mindset, I think, is, is the key thing. So, very, very interesting. So you’ve worked on major celebrity brands in the past, when you look at at partnerships, maybe that, that you’ve seen happen in the past, that you haven’t gotten there quite there yet. What do you think is, is kind of the future for without giving away too much of of the secret sauce, but for, for the brand overall, for Preston Lane, what do you think is like, gosh, if we were just a little further along, we would definitely do this.

Lisa Manice 19:57
I think, I mean, listen, I think speed and. Innovation, right and like, and as you say, the ability to just roll up your sleeves and and having worn so many hats, both Preston and I, we both have the same mindset of just give it to a busy person, and we get it done, right? And in November, we took on a big strategic partner called centric brands, and they, they are behind the scenes of some of the major household names that you, that you you know, brand you know and noticed, and and they’re, they’re a $3 billion company, right? And so we had this. We had this. It parallels some of the other partnerships that I’ve done in my life, where you take a great brand and you put it on a great machine, and you hope that magic comes out right, and that the innovation and the speed and and so it was about the time that we were opening this Hudson Yard store, and we had to open the Hudson Yard store by Black Friday, and I don’t even think we had signed a lease or a partnership by, like, November 15. And they’re like, well, when are you going to open this? It was it was it Black Friday. And they’re like, but that’s like, in, like, I don’t know, 10 days. And we’re like, Yeah, it’s fine. We’ll do it. And, and they kind of looked at us. And now we’re in this big organization down at the Empire State Building, and there’s so many, there’s all these silos and all these different departments and, and Preston and I just built, like, we just do and, so I’ll never forget. So we, we end up opening this store, and we leverage a little bit of centric and then, and then we’re like, we’re all the people like, that was what they’re supposed to help, is like, they’re supposed to be elves, like, helping us. And and Preston calls me, and he’s like, he’s like, Lisa, like, This is crazy. And like, we really, you know, we built this beautiful store. And I’ll never forget, we our opening party that we threw. We had all these amazing people show up, and they’re like, who invited these people? We’re like, we did. They’re like, who built this door? We’re like, we did. They’re like, who merchandise this door? We’re like, we did. And I think it’s eye opening to the C suite that obviously has known Preston and I for a while, and, like, I’ve worked with them for a long time, but they’re like, but who actually did this? And we’re like, well, we just did it. And I think that’s maybe a misconception, right? Like you just, you know, I mean, Chris Kylie, Kim, are some of the hardest working people in the entire industry. They deserve that whole family, Chloe, Chloe Courtney, the whole family. Kendall. They all deserve. I mean, they have my utmost respect, because they are some of the hardest working people and and they know everything that’s going on across all aspects of their lives. And then they’re still always, as you know, innovating and pushing themselves forward. And Kim’s got a law degree and, like, just, you know, I just, it’s just really admirable to watch, and it just shows you that there’s a different way of doing business than doesn’t necessarily bigger in terms of people, is not necessarily better, and it’s us trying to fine tune the right formula of how Preston Lane and its rocket ship status, and how we can utilize Lego blocks from centric to help us so that bretson And I respectfully don’t fall over, but that we continue to deliver at the same level that that we that we want to, even in elements that we that we can’t maybe personally touch.

Kara Goldin 23:17
So how are you getting the word out today about the product. You have beautiful packaging. You have had good PR as well. And obviously what’s inside the bottles too is lovely, but still, you’ve got to get people to know about the brand, right and and whether that’s social media, whether that’s Preston on the Today Show, whatever it is, what do you think is the key driver for you to get people to make that first purchase and then, of course, buy more and More and more?

Lisa Manice 24:00
I mean, we’ve got some pretty amazing advisors that have like that have gone from we help them build to them helping us build, right? And Allison and Steven Ellsworth, who are the founders of poppy, they always, they call it sips on lips, right? So, and we, you know, Preston and I are like, if people try it, then, then, then, once they’ve tried it, then, then there is a, there is a conversion, right? And then, and then. So then, this is gonna sound really silly, but until we opened the Hudson Yard store and we had a scent bar down the middle, and until we had the ability for people to try the APC and literally clean the counter, or we put, you know, the candles into cloches and so people could smell the product. And then we put the hand lotion all over so people could try it and smell it right. So the aha moment of if they try it, then they generally wanted to buy it. We then need to roll that backwards through the 26 As we’re at Nordstroms. And what’s harder is a little bit more similar to centric like, we’ve got these extraordinary relationships in this Seattle C suite, you know, from Peak down right and and then, and they, they see the vision, they’ve heard the brand story. They see the full thing, but actually then getting it merchandized onto the floor, and then, more importantly, getting testers onto the floor, and then getting the people onto the floor to know, kind of a little bit of the story, like, to your point is that’s where you need, sort of an army of people to sort of come in and execute, and that’s where centric spend really helpful, because then they have this army of people that can go city by city, where Preston and I just, I mean, I wish we had ruby slippers, and could just wish in and out, and it would be easy. It’s really, I think the testers, getting people to try the product in any sort of way has been is really the way, plus the storytelling. And so now we’re, we’ve we’re entering into the world of hospitality and the world of Well, where is this consumer if he or she is not able to go to one place that we are well, is she in the office? Okay? So we’ve been talking to big companies about putting it into bathrooms, and we’ve talked to big restaurants, and we’ve talked to hospital like big hotel chains, about both today’s products, but then where we’re going and where we see a need for other products, mainly in the home category, to be innovative, and it’s Missing with the same DNA, really quality, sourced, real, a cleaner for you, and and then a void in the market, like it’s got to have all three of those, those pieces for us to even want to bring it to market, and then, and then making sure that we’ve talked to various pieces and parts of the ecosystem, to make sure that it’s not just us talking to ourselves thinking that that’s something we need to bring to market. Yeah,

Kara Goldin 27:04
definitely. So fast forward 10 years. Preston Lane is a massive success. You’re so proud your your daughter is in her mid 20s at this point, and proud of her mom and Preston for launching this, this incredible, incredible brand. What would you say was the major time that was like, the game changer that really changed everything. Can you make any prediction of, like, what would that be that really like, how did this company, you know, blow up in a good way and become so successful.

Lisa Manice 27:45
I mean, if, if our little we, I mean, we call it our little testing library, if our little store is any indication, like we started then testing like we worked with related and, I mean, remember, it’s a holiday time, so we started testing other products that were non presently, inside of that store, and we found that the world needed a destination for the ultimate gift. It could be the gift for you, it could be the gift for your friend, it could be the gift for your family. It could be just it could be corporate gifts like that. We that’s a curated selection that has all different price points and a variety of categories that have obviously that to storytell together. So if we’re looking at this 10 years from now, I mean, I live across the street from Ralph Lauren, and my second boss was an extraordinary man named Marvin Traub who had played an integral role role in Ralph’s, Ralph’s life. And, you know, I watched the line from the coffee shop all the way up to like, I mean, we’re right next to the flagship store. And I just think, if we can get the world of Preston Lane beyond the bottle and the candle vessel, I just think there’s, there’s something that’s missing out there. And if we can continue to have a great price value ratio and a great this is better for you DNA, I do think we will look back and think, you know, we’ve done something magical. And then I think if we can then put these, you know, retail is changing so much, right? Like, it’s just, it’s just every day it’s changing, right? We live in Manhattan, and I have the luxury of seeing some of the busiest streets in the world. And it’s just there are, there are brands that are popping up right and left. So I think making sure we keep to some of the lifelong lessons that we’ve learned from the brands that have had this the longevity to stay. I just think that’s probably important as well, and so, and then I think thinking like I think about when I have time to shop, and it’s usually when I’m on vacation and I’m on, you know, so, so being in those that meeting the customer, where the customer is, and not necessarily, and then also meeting. The customer on a daily basis, where they are, and then where they are, I don’t know in the but the Discovery Place has got to be a restaurant, or it’s not just in a, you know, some sort of aisle or section or department within a retailer. Where else is that customer going to discover us?

Kara Goldin 30:18
Yeah, and I think that’s so true in today’s day and age, because things are definitely this consumer is changing where they’re working, if they’re going back to the office, where they’re vacationing, all of those things I think are so key. And I think also we have this entirely new generation that cares much more about recycled containers and everything that you’re doing, plus things that are quality, that are clean, all of those things. So it’s super, super exciting what you’re doing for sure. So well. Lisa, thank you so much for coming on and good luck with everything. I’m super excited to see everything that you guys are going to be doing. And, you know, great, great. First start to this too, because I think that it looks like your brand is, is much older than seven months old. I mean, it’s, it’s, I’m not surprised, given all of the incredible experience you’ve had, but I really, really love everything that you’re doing, and everyone needs to try. Preston Lane, we’ll have all the info in the show notes, but I really, really love everything that you’re doing. Kara, so thank you again, Lisa, and thanks everyone for listening.

Lisa Manice 31:37
Thank you for having us. This is really fun. Thank you, Kara. Thanks

Kara Goldin 31:41
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.

Click to subscribe:

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen OnApple Podcasts
Listen on Spotify
Listen OnSpotify
Listen on Overcast
Listen OnOvercast
Listen on PlayerFM
Listen OnPlayerFM

People Also Liked

665

Ellen Pack: Co-CEO of Common Sense Media

663

JW Wiseman: Founder & CEO of Curious Elixirs

662

Michael Pollak: Co-Founder & CEO of Great Many

661

Sarah Kennedy: Founder & CEO of Calocurb

660

Dr. Julius Few: Founder of Dr. Few Skincare