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6 quick questions with Emily Hamilton, Co Founder of Coco & Eve (Part 2)

by Female Startup Club
May 2nd 2023
00:12:07
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This is Emily Hamilton for Female Startup Club


Hello and welcome back to the show! It’s Doone here - your host and hype girl sliding into your ears with a new episode on the Female Startu... More

Welcome back. Here are the six quick questions. So question number one is, what's your, why? Why are you waking up every single day and building the brands under supernova, breakthrough innovation and coming from e-commerce, you know, most of my career where you get instant feedback when you work on a product for years and an idea for years, it's so amazing when you bring it to market and people love it. It's devastating when they don't. So um but that's my, that's my why I love that and just doing something different and really challenging myself and the team. Have you ever launched something that wasn't a hit that you had to backtrack on? Yep. Do you want to talk about it? So I think that um one of the, I mean, it's not a flop, it's been quite successful actually, but one of our, so our shampoo so that um like a virgin super hydrating shampoo is definitely one we worked on for so long and we were really pushing the envelope.

It had to be sulfate free. You had to have this really high naturality and, and hair care is really difficult to find that balance no silicon. So um you know, really clean formula and the hair care is just, it's, it's so difficult to really find that balance because at the end of the day, people prioritize efficacy over naturality or clean um ingredients. So we definitely push, push the boundary there. And I think that we've got lots of shampoo conditional launches coming up. I want a product that everybody loves and um this product has definitely been loved by people with more dry hair, um curly hair, but those with more and more fine hair, it's just definitely been mixed feedback. So it sells really well. So I definitely get good feedback, but I want everybody to love it. And, and so that's probably one of the biggest learnings and hair care is so difficult to make a shampoo and conditioner uh like a shampoo.

It's taken us many years and I'm working with the right manufacturer. But um I think we've cracked the code now, so June, we've got some launches coming up. It's gonna be better. But you know, like that feedback is sometimes the feedback can be. Um so we launched a body sunscreen and it was literally like a week ago in America. People want to know is that Hawaii Reef Safe compliant? Is it have this ingredient and that ingredient? And so we had to pivot a little bit in our, in our communication. So those things you can, you can fix. So, you know, feedback can be various things. Yes, feedback pushes you forward even though sometimes it hurts. Question number two is what's been your favorite marketing moment so far? I think when we launched the town, it was an instant hit and really focusing on, I think we believed why the sort of the formula and the magic that we put onto hair care can work across all categories.

And um we just wanted to be a really different and integrated beauty brand. So I think that was the biggest achievement. We got lots of pr and we did a campaign where it was really about a strategy of latter. So you look at, OK, you know, focusing on a negative, no bad tan smells, which is really the key for that and sort of really embracing body imperfections and um were really the first to show your stretch marks and um you know, celebrate you. So that campaign was, it just took off immediately. So that was definitely the, you know, amazing moment. Love that I read you sell something crazy like a bottle every 20 seconds. We sell 1000 a day. Yeah. Jesus. Wow, that's amazing. Gosh, goodness. Question number three is what's your go to business resource when you have to think about a book or a podcast or a newsletter that you consume?

Oh, there's so many, I, I, you know what I'm loving now and I have to say there's so many um branding experts on tiktok and Um So those ones are, are really consult, so seek them out. There's, you know, there's a lot, there's a lot on there. So really, really thinking about your brand and your positioning. I'd say that first of all, but sort of business of fashion and um global cosmetics um newsletters, they're definitely things I love to read and, you know, giving a perspective on the, on the industry. But I also go, I see manufacturers. Uh I go to all the events so it's on the ground talking to people as well. So these events are open to everybody. So um get talking to people and see what they're seeing on the ground. Keep up to date with what's happening in technology and innovation in the beauty space for sure. Yeah. Question number four is how do you win the day?

What are your AM or PM? Rituals and habits that keep you feeling happy and successful and motivated for me? There's, yeah, I wish I had a recipe. I have, I have two young kids. I have a husband. I have a very busy job and I, what used to get me down is just, you know, the overwhelming of it every day and, and really switching a mindset. This is awesome. I have so many opportunities I got over the impostor syndrome. Like, oh what if this is not gonna work and the doubts and just having a great team and something to look forward to and you know, great husband and kids. So that's how I just go through the day. It sometimes takes me, I wish I, uh, I wish I had that formula to win the day. But, um, you know, just working hard and, and being grateful and thankful that we, we, we can be so busy and have lots to do.

How did you shift your mindset? I feel like it's a hard thing to do sometimes. Oh, you know, I think that everybody had those moments out of COVID. Right. So COVID just made all of our lives traumatic and it just wasn't feasible to go on. So, um, you had to make changes and a lot of people changed. I feel I'm not alone with that. I, I think a lot of people change their mindset and, um, you know, just said, well, this is busy. This is tough. Um, you know what we live through COVID, you know, even a business you have demand here, it shifts to here. It just every day. We, we, the warehouse is closed for a week. Oh, now they're open again. You know, this, um, it was just problems every day and I think, you know, when you talk about, you know, just solve the problems, get to the bottom of them, solve the problems. You just see the progress much quicker than like, oh my God, I've got all these problems.

It's just overwhelming me. So, um, I think that was, that was a bit of it, a bit of the moment of dealing with everything. Yes. No other choice. No other choice. Yeah. Question number five is, what is your worst money mistake? And how much did it cost you? I think that, um, we're doing pretty good. I mean, it's, we, we are self funded business and, you know, we do, we learn from these little mistakes over the years. I think that what has been the most challenging and the most confronting that was kind of out of our control or something you didn't see has definitely been a change in consumer demand. Um That's, that's shifted um over the years and where they're buying and what they're buying. And I think that's been the most challenging. So really to figure out, ok, how do we make the right decisions but still stay flexible and build that into all of our systems?

So making wrong stock purchases, I think uh has been the most painful because um uh you want all your money and your investments to go to use. Hm Absolutely. Question number six. Last question. What is just a crazy story? You can share good or bad from your journey in building Cocoa and Eve sand and sky and anything under the supernova brand at the start of COVID in 2020. Sorry, I kept to talk about COVID but it was, it's a big part of our lives still fresh. This is a good story. So Donald Trump, when he was president, he gave out like the Trump check and it's $1000 to every American citizen. And um, he did this at the end of uh April and it was our biggest sales month. We completely sold out. We sold 2500 sales that day like units. It was just an amazing boost to e-commerce and completely surprising and uh overwhelmingly good.

Wow. Um, the Trump check. Yeah, we will never forget. It was all of a sudden we're making all these sales. So consumers just took the money and they bought Coco and Eve. Oh my gosh. That's so bizarre. The Trump check it so bizarre. Yeah. It's a real story. Yeah. Oh my gosh, Emily, thank you so much for taking the time to come on female startup club today and share your journey in building these businesses and the playbook that's been working for you. I'm so grateful to have you on the show. Yeah. Thanks, June. Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the female startup club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out female startup club dot com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder, business news insights and learnings in D to C and interesting business resources. And if you're a founder, building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called hype club at female startup club dot com forward slash hype club.

We have guests from the show joining us for intimate, ask me any things, expert workshops and a group of totally amazing like minded women building the future of DC brands. As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.

6 quick questions with Emily Hamilton, Co Founder of Coco & Eve (Part 2)
6 quick questions with Emily Hamilton, Co Founder of Coco & Eve (Part 2)
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