Seamless Blog by Burgundy Fox — Seamless Podcast

We sit down for a talk about best practices for branding with Sophie Davies and Jenni Brown, co-founders of Prim'd Marketing. Prim’d Marketing helps businesses and personal brands look and sound like the best versions of themselves through a brand positioning and content marketing program called ‘ The Brand Plan’. The foundation and guiding light to any subsequent branding, website and content marketing.

What we chat about:

-Finding your tribe (4:33)
-How they figured out working together (7:25)
-Dedicating time to their own business (9:20)
-Knowing that everyone starts somewhere (13:18)
-Their signature package: The Brand Plan (14:19)
-What a great brand is made of & your brand values (16:18)
-The craziest "secret sauce" story (22:35)
-That passion shines through in interactions (27:28)
-Values are what defines a lasting brand, not fads (28:03)
-Having an intentional knowledge of customer needs (31:40)
-Being consistent with marketing to your customer (33:32)
-Not getting "perfection-paralysis" (36:45)
-What does "Seamless" mean to them (39:53)

Links we refer to:

- The Brand Plan
- Claire Morris
- Care of Vitamins & Care of Vitamins Instagram
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fu*k
- Type A Creative Podcast

Their Bio's:

Sophie Davies is the co-founder and resident social media and content strategist at Prim’d Marketing. Sophie has worked with an international portfolio of clients in the fashion industry, ranging from Lacoste and Calvin Klein to independent designers, as well as consulting with brands in the lifestyle, wedding, parenting and publishing industries on their social media marketing. You can connect with her on Linkedin, Instagram or Twitter.

Jenni Brown has a skillful eye for writing and design and a love helping clients discover who they are and how they’re different through words and visuals. At Prim’d Marketing, she’s the resident branding and web strategist — she guides clients through identifying the best pieces of their experience, personality, and style to form a cohesive and authentic brand. She’s an end-to-end story teller; she has sharp skills in design coupled with an MFA in Writing from the University of San Francisco. She has 7+ years of marketing experience with clients ranging from Fortune 500 such as Pepsi and Taco Bell to small businesses and personal brands. Since moving to the Bay Area from Los Angeles, she’s worked with startups as well as in the publishing and lifestyle industries. When she isn’t creating beautiful marketing and brand strategies through The Brand Plan for Prim’d clients, she writes and designs for Prim’d. Connect with her on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Where to find them:

Prim’d Marketing
Website
Facebook 
Twitter 
Pinterest
Instagram

Sophie
Linkedin
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook

Jenni
Twitter 
LinkedIn
Instagram

We sit down for a talk about business changes and coaching with Reina Pomeroy, the founder of Reina and Co. and the co-founder of Creative Empire Podcast. Reina is a big proponent of living a full and productive life, lived by “our own rules.” We get into her passion for helping others thrive, and how she personally handles setbacks. For more tips and inspiration for your life and creative business of your dreams, visit Reina and Co’s website to sign up for weekly Sunshine Mail!

What we chat about:

-What the transition like from Social Worker to Wedding Planner, then to Business Coach (2:45)
-What her coaching trajectory has looked like (4:42)
-How coaching creates intangible things, but also huge results (5:55)
-How collaboration works for Reina + Co. and how she is a "connector" (8:19)
-How Reina deals with business struggles and vulnerability in her community (12:35)
-Why "authenticity" can feel icky for her (15:27)
-Goalsetting and her book, The Big Plan for the Creative Mind (17:20)
-What Seamless means to Reina (19:39)

Links we refer to:

- Social Glue
- Coffee Chats
- The Big Plan for the Creative Mind Book
- Dannie Fountain

Reina Pomeroy‘s Bio:

Reina Pomeroy is the founder of Reina + Co, the Life + Biz Success Coaching® practice for creatives who are right brained and heart centered. She helps women who have a million brilliant ideas in their heads that they can’t seem to make happen. She helps them to stop spinning their wheels and take action on what’s most important so they can become the go-to expert in their field. Reina is also the co-host of the Creative Empire Podcast where she gets to interview leaders in the creative industry.

You can find Reina’s work featured on Entrepreneur on Fire, Entrepreneur.com, Brit + Co, The Huffington Post, Honeybook, The Rising Tide Society and Best Friends for Frosting. She also travels around the country speaking and educating creative entrepreneurs.
Reina has her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Master’s degree in Social Work and is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) from the Coach Training Institute and the International Coaching Federation. Currently, she lives in a suburb of Washington, DC with her 3 year old son, puppy and Marine husband.

Where to find her:

Reina + Co Website
Reina + Co Facebook
Reina + Co Instagram
Reina + Co Twitter
Reina + Co Pinterest

Creative Empire Podcast Website
Creative Empire Podcast Facebook
Creative Empire Podcast Instagram
Creative Empire Podcast Twitter

We sit down for a talk about transitions with Shadiah Sigala, the co-founder of HoneyBook, a community and business tool creative entrepreneurs use to book new business and seamlessly manage it—all in one place. Shadiah takes us through her journey starting HoneyBook, going from zero to an award winning culture and venture-backed company, and how her latest transition, motherhood, and entrepreneurship can go hand-in-hand.

What we chat about:

-How her upbringing has helped her to become who she is today (1:11)
-How the Honeybook product and platform was created (2:58)
-What the evolution of Honeybook has been (5:04)
-How Shadiah has changed as a leader (8:01)
-What the validation is behind HoneyBook (12:01)
-Why Rising Tide Society was brought into HoneyBook (13:03)
-How to solidify a company narrative (15:08)
-What a rebrand looks like (17:30)
-What motherhood as an entrepreneur and having a career is like (21:08)
-How diversity is a part of the HoneyBook culture (29:29)
-What the word Seamless means to her (34:03)

Links we refer to:

-Honeybook
-Eric Ries – The Lean Startup
-Rising Tide Society
-Natalie Franke
-Amy Henderson (Researching women in workplace)

Shadiah Sigala‘s Bio:

Shadiah is Cofounder and Head of People at HoneyBook. She has held various operational leadership roles at HoneyBook, from establishing the best-in-class Concierge support team, to installing a community-first marketing team, and most recently, amplifying HoneyBook’s famous culture through HR, talent and workplace operations. Prior to HoneyBook, she held roles at Activehours and Aetna, in addition to owning her own farm-to-table catering service.
Shadiah received a Master's in Public Policy from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s in Latin American Studies from Pomona College, breaking ground in her first generation Mexican immigrant family. Shadiah is keenly interested in promoting women and families in the workplace, and runs a professional women’s leadership group in her “spare” time.

Where to find her:

Personal LinkedIn
HoneyBook Website
HoneyBook Facebook
HoneyBook Instagram
HoneyBook Twitter
HoneyBook Pinterest
HoneyBook LinkedIn
 

We sat down for a chat with Jacqueline Courtney, founder and CEO of Nearly Newlywed, an online marketplace for sample and resale luxury bridal wear.
Jacqueline previously represented high fashion brands as a publicist and talks about how that experience combined with her own nuptials, fueled her desire to bring accessible luxury fashion to brides all over the United States.
Hear how her 'just do it' approach took her from launching Nearly Newlywed in a New York City apartment to NBC's Shark Tank to growing a dedicated team that supports thousands of happy brides.

What we chat about:

-What Nearly Newlywed is and how it was built (0:57)
-What SharkTank was like (6:17)
-How the vision of Nearly Newlywed has evolved (7:33)
-What inspiration looks and maintaining inspiration (9:07)
-How to stay inclusive in her brand (11:08)
-How to use input in your business (15:16)
-What the word Seamless means to Jacqueline (17:17)

Links we refer to:

-Nearly Newlywed
-Elie Saab
-Vera Wang
-Gucci
-Shark Tank

Jacqueline Courtney's Bio:

Originally from Iowa, Nearly Newlywed founder Jacqueline Courtney moved to New York to pursue fashion and life in the ‘big city.’ She received her design & management degree from Parsons the New School for Design before embarking on a career in fashion with positions at Barneys NY, Men's Vogue and Karla Otto NY.

Prior to founding Nearly Newlywed, Jackie worked as a publicist for international fashion designers including Marni, Thakoon, Matthew Williamson and Emilio Pucci, working with top stylists and editors at Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, and more. She also spent time with internationally renowned eCommerce agency Create the Group supporting the digital strategy of Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan, among other luxury brands.

Jackie lives in Brooklyn with her husband Patrick and dog Charlie.

Where to find her:

Nearly Newlywed Website
Nearly Newlywed Facebook
Nearly Newlywed Instagram
Nearly Newlywed Twitter

Laura Nestler knows a thing or two about achieving a work/life balance, and it's because she's blended the two together. Seamlessly.

Prior to her current position as Director of Community at Duolingo, Laura worked with both Yelp and HoneyBook, connecting costumers around the globe with these companies' products. She designed the infrastructure that allowed Yelp to jump off internationally so that you can search for that perfect day spa while abroad with your in-laws.

Nestler is also responsible for assisting with HoneyBook's partnership with The Rising Tide Society, which connects creative entrepreneurs internationally with the resources they need to build their businesses.

In this episode, BF intern Nicole Fallert speaks with Nestler about leadership, the power of language and always asking yourself one question: "Why?"

You can follow Laura on Instagram @lauranestler and Nicole @nflrt6789. Got questions or comments about Seamless? Email partnerships@burgundyfox.com.

O-U-A-I, but it's pronounced "way."

This is the name of the once of the fastest-growing online haircare companies, and they're changing the roots of hair treatment.

In this episode of "Seamless," Burgundy Fox intern Nicole Fallert spoke with Brittney Barrett, Director of Digital at Ouai. She spoke about building a brand, content strategy and creative teamwork.

Follow Brittney on Instagram @microsoftpaint and Nicole @nflrt6789. Got questions or comments about Seamless? Contact partnerships@burgundyfox.com.

Have you ever been doing what you love, but felt lonely while doing it? Natalie Franke was a successful wedding photographer after college, but she lacked the resources and support necessary to build her brand. Creative entrepreneurship felt isolating for her, so Natalie decided to close the gap between her passion and community.

She started the Rising Tide Society in 2015 and the organization now hosts chapters internationally to foster support for creatives. Rising Tide Society is also a part of HoneyBook, which offers management software for creative businesses. Natalie serves as the head of community for HoneyBook, and regularly posts video blogs and some very motivational Instagram stories. The University of Pennsylvania graduate is now an educator, writer and community builder.

Listen here as Natalie speaks with Burgundy Fox intern Nicole Fallert about neuroscience, social media advertising and what she wants to be when she grows up.

Follow Natalie on social media @nataliefranke or catch up with Nicole @nflrt6789. Got questions or comments about Seamless? Email partnerships@burgundyfox.com.

Rachel Silver has discovered something addictive. And it's gluten-free, good for the heart and you can stream it from your kitchen while cooking. Who knew such a thing existed?

Rachel Silver is the founder of Love Stories TV, a media platform which aggregates professional wedding videos. Anyone can submit a video, and it'll be accepted on the site. The most popular videos are shared on Love Stories' social media, where strangers at very cool weddings regularly takeover the story.

The product is addictive wedding videos that don't turn someone's special day into a commodity. It's about connection, inspiration and inclusivity. BF intern Nicole Fallert spoke with Silver about starting the platform, user engagement and of course, true love.

Follow Rachel on social media @racheljosilver or catch up with Nicole @nflrt6789. Got questions or comments about Seamless? Email partnerships@burgundyfox.com.

Seamless take three and explores the social media strategy and career risks with our Burgundy Fox model Dannie Fountain, a self-defined "marketing expert, business strategist, author, educator, digital nomad and whip-smart whiskey drinker."

In this episode, Burgundy Fox intern Nicole Fallert speaks with Dannie about how she turned a side hustle into a full-time job and still finds time for wanderlust.

Transcript

Hey! It’s Nicole and welcome back to Seamless.

In this episode, we’re talking hustle. That’s the word Dannie Fountain uses to describe her work as a marketing strategist, writer and teacher. She’s traveled the world, worked in the corporate sector and now she’s an entrepreneur helping other business owners build their brand, seamlessly.

Here’s my conversation with Dannie.

Transcript:

Nicole Fallert: Can you just tell me what you do?

Dannie Fountain: I am a marketing strategist, author and educator. I work with corporate clients and small businesses to get their house in order and come up with a marketing plan that’s going to really move the needle for them

NF: Can you tell me what you mean by strategy? On your website and your content, I feel like the word strategy is used a lot. That can really run the gamut, so what does strategy meant to you?

DF: Strategy is thinking about a direction that you want to go in. It can be a micro-direction like launching something or macro-direction like pivoting your entire business and essentially coming up with the entire game plan that you’re going to need to work through to get there.

If it’s something micro, you may think what needs to happen so people know about the launch so that it goes well. If it a macro change, you’re thinking through everything that needs to happen so the pivot is successful, be that raising awareness or making sure the brand voice from the old branding to the new brand carries over so the whole transition is seamless. It’s really more than just posting on social media.

NF: I like that you used the word seamless! I want to ask you how you get that transition to be well-layered when working with a business you may not be familiar with or content you’ve never approached. How do you jump in cold turkey and know what’s wrong or what needs to change

DF: The first step of any project I always do is an audit. The client goes through a document and lets me know what they think their business is doing in terms of marketing, PR and social media and the message their business is sending. I’m able to go through and check the reality against what they think and identify the gaps.

NF: Do people have conceptions of their successes and failures are when they self-evaluate?

DF: Folks undervalue themselves! They don’t see that a part of their business is really powerful and people are resonating with it or they think that a piece that’s actually performing well is a waste of time.

NF: What kind of businesses and organizations do you like to work with?

DF: The most fun that I have is in projects where a business is trying to turn an industry on its head. They’re in an industry where the conversation, the way the industry sells and the products have been the same for a really long time and they’re looking to challenge the pre-defined norms through messaging.

NF: How does your background and personal life inform your professional life?

DF: It’s seamless hand in hand. For better or for worse. there isn’t really a separation. I’m a big traveler and I think my wanderlust and desire to find the hidden treasures helps when performing audits and finding ideas that are fresh and new. It’s about the diamonds in the rough in the business world.

In my corporate time, I worked for Whirlpool company, which was a103-year- company old trying to innovate the market while competing solely on price. Flipping that industry so that price wasn’t even a question was a huge learning lesson and there were a lot of takeaways for me.

NF: Leaving that corporate structure and going into your own business was a risk. Was there a point when you said, “I’m doing the right thing.”  

DF: My skip from corporate to full-time entrepreneur was an accident. I had been side hustling all along and then in 2016, I got laid off twice in three months. For me, it was a case of, “If the corporate world doesn’t trust me, why don’t I try trusting myself?”
NF: What did it feel like to trust yourself?
DF: I went from having a steady corporate income and a reliable side hustle income to just my side hustle income overnight. It was believing in the the hustle before I believed in myself.

I had to find value in the hustle so I could find value in making the leap.
NF: Okay, so what does “side hustle” mean?

Google defines hustle as busy movement and activity. But what does the word mean in the context of business?

I’ve heard the term “hustle” or “side hustle” more often than not lately, and this may be due to the fact that 44 million American adults have a source of income other than their day job, according to a July 2017 report by Bankrate.

This fact stems from the idea that extra cash means paying off student loans and capital investment for your future. With one quarter of millennials with side hustles making $500 dollars a month, according to Bankrate, why not take on another job?

There’s evening side hustle nation.com, an online source dedicated to the creation of your side hustle. It’s a complete guide to creating a part-time business that’s passion-driven and most importantly, paid.

Now I’m thinking about my own side-hustle possibilities. I have always been good at posting that perfect Instagram…Now, back to Dannie

NF: One thing I’ve noticed on your website is that you’re a really good writer. You have a very strong voice, and I want to know how writing has informed your work. Do you find your voice is changing as you’ve developed your business?

DF: In the beginning, I wrote very safely. I educated, but I educated in a way that would not turn anyone off. The longer I’ve been here, the more willing I am to infuse my personality in my writing, which is interesting. The more I’ve infused my personality in my writing, the better it’s gotten. I was almost doing myself a disservice in the beginning. I would say that trusting my voice has helped my business, and the reason I decided to rebrand from an agency name to my name.

NF: What’s your advice for someone who is considering skipping out of a corporate job structure but doesn’t feel ready to take that leap?

DF: There is no one-way to go from the corporate world an entrepreneur.

It’s one-third guts, one-third planning and having a process and one-third trusting yourself.

The gut piece being, “Do I know I can actually sit down and get work done, because if I need the pressure of something else in my life to perform, don’t do it.”

The planning piece is, “Do I know where I want my risk to go long-term?” If you don’t have an answer,stay in your corporate job.

The third piece, that’s the hardest, but that’s the piece that connects it all

NF: What’s something that you’re most proud of?

DF: Being willing to be myself in business. To dance the line between corporate and entrepreneur, while owning the fact I side hustled for so long and being an entrepreneur was never really the goal. It used to be something I did to travel.

NF: One thing I’ve noticed a lot is even just my behaviors in my purchasing and my absorbtion of social media are reflected in the advertisements I see on my laptop screen. I’d like to know your perspective on social media advertising.

DF: I was having a conversation about this recently. Take an influencer for example. People are not upset if they partner with a brand. They get upset when this influencer don’t disclose that it was a partnership. I think we’ll see a movement towards honest advertising. We’re going to see brands that can be unafraid to share the painful parts. These will be the brands that do really well.

NF: Let’s say I’m your average Instagram user with a pretty good presence. What would be your advice if that user wanted to build his or her brand and collaborate with actual products?

DF: Be consistent. As you build what you’re working on, you want to be an evangelist. Be the person known for one thing. Even though I’m an entrepreneur, an author...I this, I that, when you ask someone on Instagram what they know me, for it’s my whiskey. I’m always talking about whiskey.

That is the way to build engagement. People come back to see what I’ve tried recently, or if i found something new that I liked. That’s how you build consistent recurring engagement. Virality is good, that’s what gives you hundreds of followers, but it’s not sustainable. It’s not what gives you recurring following.

Got comments or suggestions for our new podcast? Email partnerships@burgundyfox.com.

Seamless is back with Lisa Rosado, founder and creative director of The Style Theory.

Her site is a go-to destination for lifestyle, fashion and beauty inspiration. Burgundy Fox is a total fan of Rosado, who is championing the work-life balance with grace and confidence.

In this episode, we talk support systems, growing pains and summer style tips.

Transcript

Hey! It’s Nicole and welcome to Seamless.

I’ve always struggled with the idea of personal style, especially because my own look has gone through so many phases, from trendy middle school mall queen to something that was apparently London grunge...I’m making air quotes.

Now that I’m a woman (air quotes again), it’s time to settle on an aesthetic. So, I talked with Lisa Rosado, founder and creative director of The Style Theory, a website for fashion, lifestyle, beauty and shopping. On top of that, she features super cool ladies on her site and knows a thing or two about supporting fellow entrepreneurs. Let’s catch up with Lisa as she shares her own fashion philosophy.

Lisa Rosado: I’ve always been interested in fashion and beauty and that whole world, but it’s interesting because I went to college for acting. While in college, I needed to make money. So I started working in retail because that was an interest of mine. I worked in corporate and realized that wasn’t an interest for me and started working at boutiques I did that for about ten years and started managing and buying and realized I loved buying and loved interacting with women on a one-on-one basis.

The stores I worked at were very neighborhood, so I became attached to these women and watched them evolve and transform through our conversations and through styling. I just became hooked, and I became really unhappy there because I had attained the highest position possible and it felt like there was nothing more to achieve. I was scared to leave at the same time. I felt like if left something miraculous was going to happen, so I decided to start a blog.

I had a website already and that was my outlet for all things fashion and beauty. About three years into it, I realized I want to start my own thing.

I’ve written it down in several places, but I hadn’t realized from the time of middle school I had been planning this as if it was in my subconscious. I started my site, and it was amazing escape for me.

I left that one job and started working at another place and told myself I wouldn’t do that. And then a year in, I thought, “You know what Lisa? You need to just leap in and start The Style Theory!”

The whole concept behind it is styling your life as a whole happy, so not just fashion and beauty. It evolved into a lifestyle category. I was so drawn to that because I was learning to style my life happy and what brought me unhappiness, because I was unhappy for quite some time. I was realizing I had total control in creating the happiness I had longed for and that we deserve. I feel like so many of us think we are undeserving of everything. So I leapt in, I literally leapt.

NF: What a journey! Especially how you’ve prioritized the mental and personal reaction that comes when you’re in a specific space in a store. You get that same feeling when you’re on your site when you’re in a store. You know you’re buying something for yourself and you’re taking the opportunity to search even for one item. That tone is very hard to emulate online, and I think it’s something a lot of online marketplaces struggle with.

Can you talk about creating an online marketplace because there are so many and it’s very difficult to establish a place that’s not a store, but feels like it?

LR: I had really high hopes because I thought an online marketplace was the place to be at the time. Then I learned that because it’s so saturated, it is incredibly important that you get super clear on your vision and what it is that sets you apart from the rest of the marketplace.

I was in a funk after I finally launched the site and I still felt unhappy. I realized one day that I preach empowering women and sisterhood, but I’m like, “How is this showcasing in my shop?”

It felt like there was a disconnect. If you didn’t know Lisa the business owner and follow me on Snapchat, you wouldn’t know how passionate I was about these things.

I realized that I needed to get more focused and build a bridge between the shop and what drives me. It’s going to take some time, but I’m going to be stocking the shop with pieces created by women moving forward. I’m excited because that’s my passion, but I really think that’s what’s going to set me apart from other online shops, and I think that is so key just to stay strong and tall in your message and I feel like that’s what's going to set you apart from the rest of the market.

NF: What does make a good online marketplace? Why do we buy things online and what makes that experience exciting and fun? Let’s talk with Leslie.

Leslie Wong: Speaking of online marketplaces, we all know we are living in a world where we are just bombarded with products. A great online marketplace is one that actually curates products for you, learns your preferences, shares brands and products that you love.

I think that one thing that’s emerging is an awareness of the person behind the brand. With Style Theory Collective, that what’s genius. She is building her brand around herself as a woman who empowers and supports other women. She’s curating brands that are also-women led.

On a macro-level, I see a lot of brands putting an emphasis on who the designers are, who the makers are, that’s one thing we do at Burgundy Fox as well, we look for emerging designers who are women or women-founded businesses, and we build a story around that.

You could pick something generic, or you can pick something where you understand the background of the person who is building it and creating the products as well.

NF: Now, back to Lisa

How’d you make sure the you’re inclusive for all women who find themselves on your marketplace?

The shop is a reflection of my personal style. I love super easy pieces, classic with a structural edge. Cuts and silhouettes, minimal. Some things are sweet and feminine. I envision women like myself who are constantly going from meetings to events to everything in-between. I like pieces that transition effortlessly between where I might find yourself through the idea. When you go clean, minimal and quality you just can’t go wrong.

One thing I also realize was that I was preaching to all women yet I wasn’t offering sizes 1x to 3x. We started implementing that. It’s still something I’m learning to navigate. It’s tricky to find something that’s on trend and reasonably price, yet well-made for plus sizes. It actually frustrates me

NF: I’m not a very good online shopper. I order too much, or I order one thing and find it’s not my size and like, write-off buying denim on line every again

What’s your advice when using a high-quality online marketplace like yours, when you want to purchase something stylish and meaningful?

LR: You need to know your measurements. I’m thinking of creating a pdf for this. I take the time to measure each size of each piece so that it helps women shop to the best of their ability

NF: What has been one of the biggest successes you've had?

LR: Birchbox. It blows my mind to have collaborated with them several times. This fall, they gave me the opportunity to take over their Snapchat a few times. I adore Birchbox. It’s one of my favorite companies. It’s women-owned and to be a part of their culture and their belief of me…they could have worked with huge bloggers with massive followings, but they believed in me enough to give me the opportunity to talk about myself and promote my business. That is where a lot of my customers came from.

NF: How do you keep yourself creative?

LR: I joined a year long mastermind group with women who are also entrepreneurs. Being able to bounce ideas and have support keeps me in line and creative. They’re like, “Wait a minute! There’s value in that! You should be doing that!”

It’s been cool to know that I’m a creative person and the whole theme is honoring your value and monetizing on it

NF: What’s it feel like to have a monetary return for your creative work?

LR: It’s something I have to get used to. I know that I’m capable and I know I believe in myself and then the subconscious gets in the way. I’ve been able to hide behind selling product for so long but that’s not where my happiness as a whole lies.

That in turn, in realizing what the next step is, it’s actually being more vulnerable and putting myself out there a lot more.

NF: What’s it feel like to put out your creative work, and then receive a monetary return?

LR: You don’t know whether or not people will accept your creative work, and I think that’s a big question for creative thinkers.

I’m through it right now but there’s something to be said about it being uncomfortable, its growing pains. I think what an injustice we would be doing by not sharing our stories and our gifts and our passions with the world. Some weeks are fantastic and then you have a couple days when you’re like "what am I thinking? can I do this?"

We all have something valuable to offer this world and I’m convinced of it. I try to remind myself of that when I freak out. It's like, people need you!

NF: Final question, what’s a summer style tip?

LR: Having a straw hat is such a necessity for me. It protects you from the sun and transforms your entire look. It totally makes me you look like a badass and who doesn’t want to look like a badass?

Got comments or suggestions for our new podcast? Email partnerships@burgundyfox.com.

Tune in as Burgundy Fox intern Nicole Fallert catches up with Rita Ravindra, founder of MiaMia Beauty.

Ravindra's app is your new best girlfriend, here to recommend the best and newest beauty products. Users can store specific items for later reference so that you'll never forget that perfect eye shadow again.

MiaMia is high-brow and low-brow: Ravindra's mission is to let busy women curate their favorite looks so they never have to waste time scrolling the world wide web for that one eyeliner they saw that time on that one blog. Safe to say that Ravindra is using technology to make personal beauty seamless. What a fox!

Transcript

Hey guys! It’s Nicole here and welcome to Seamless. We aren’t friends yet, but I know that we will be. It’s important that I share the fact that I’m pretty obsessed with beauty products.

The other day I was in Sephora with my girlfriend and I drew a blank. I knew there was a specific skin serum I had wanted to recommend her, but I couldn’t remember the name for my life.

That’s where Rita Ravindra comes in. She’s the founder of MiaMia, a new beauty app designed for sharing products. You simply sign up, take a style quiz and start collecting products to purchase and share. You’ll never forget that one product name again because it’s always on your phone.

I caught up with Rita just after she’d come back from the gym, and she’s still nothing short of glamorous. Here’s our conversation.

Rita Ravindra: I just got back from the gym like a half ago, so you’ll have to excuse me

Nicole Fallert: No that’s okay it’s been a busy day on our side too! My first question is why you started MiaMia

RR: My background is in finance, so right out of college I got bit by the tech bug pretty quickly after graduating and been in tech for a long time and was always a really good number two.

I helped the CEOS raise money do business development deals, manage finance, manage HR but then I’d always had this idea and it stemmed from personal experience. I’d worked on a blog and transitioned it to a newsletter for women and it just baffled me that there wasn’t app out there where I couldn’t just simply manage my inventory of products, make looks with them because that’s what I do, and then share with my girlfriends.

That’s what I sought out to build: a social platform because women have upwards of 40 different beauty products spanning skin care hair care and makeup.

NF: Don’t you think that’s interesting the interesting the way that women buy things is really social? Most of the time I’m buying food or clothes or makeup, I’m with at least one friend.

RR: Exactly. If you aren’t with them physically, you’re with them digitally and you’re texting or emailing. That’s why we built this platform because that behavior already exists. We aren’t looking to change consumer behavior, we are just helping to facilitate it in an easy way by making it digital.

NF: What can you say about the intersection of beauty and tech. There aren’t a lot of beauty apps as applicable as yours and what do you think that intersection represents?

RR: The way I think of it is that your phone is very personal. It has your contacts, texts, emails, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. Beauty is also personal, and I view them as one as in the same because they’re both very personal to women. It would make sense that you would have everything you do for beauty on your phone. We live and breathe it. Some people might not relate to this, but we wake up, we wash our face, we put on skin care products, we put on make up, we take off our make up at night, we put on skin care products and we do stuff for our hair. Beauty affects us everyday, which is why I felt that it needed to be in app form and very accessible.

NF: How do you make sure the products available on your app are accessible and inclusive for all women?

RR: That was always very important to us from the get go because we wanted to make sure MiaMia included all products as many as possible we integrated with a company that allows us to have a product database of 100,000 different beauty products.

We have a style quiz where we ask our users for their skin tone, their age their beauty concerns and how much make up they wear and over 80% of users fill out that style quiz.

NF: Pause. I decided to join that 80% and experiment with what it would be like to take MiaMia’s style quiz. I’m here with the app and we’re going to go through the process together.

We are going to select sign up with email and put in Burgundy fox. It asks for a bio, a website, a photo and you can also integrate this app with your Instagram, find contacts on your phone or invite a friend to join through an email or text.

I’m going to go ahead and follow Rita because she’s a friend of the pod and I know she’s got really great style.

Let’s take the style quiz.

Questions #1: How much make up do you typically wear?

Hmmm it’s a Wednesday, I’m a little tired…let’s say medium. Which represents your skin tone? There are six different paint brush strokes representing skin tones and I’m going to pic light medium.

Question #2: What are your main beauty concerns?

What’s not a beauty concern...definitely sun protection, definitely dark circles...haven’t had my coffee yet, and a little bit of oil.

Now MiaMia asks how old you are and this is important information because age directly informs the status of our skin and what our skins needs.

Okay, now we can start using the app. It says “let’s start by finding products you love tap the hear tot love and save to your profile.” Easy.

You have five tabs at the looks, activity, me, add and search. In looks you can look at other's looks they’ve posted online and you can like them and share them online.

The “Looks” tab is organized so that it’s in categories: all looks, date night, eyes, lips, skincare, face, hair and nails. It goes on.

If you click on the activity tab, you can see what people you follow have posted recently and then if you go to your own page you can look at what you’ve liked the products you’ve tagged for purchased later

On MiaMia, you can purchase products such as makeup skincare, haircare, fragrances, bath and body, hair accessories, and beauty tools. You can also search by brands or product category.

Let's pick skincare [as a product search category] because that’s something really important to me. And just like that you have so many products right in front of you including Glossier Generation G, a favorite product of mine which you can then share, go directly to the site to purchase and also read reviews. I think one of the strengths of MiaMia is that you are not only integrating into the purchasing process but you’re getting reviews firsthand from users who are experiencing these products.

It’s safe to say I’m hooked on this app. Now back to the pod.

NF: How frequently do you find yourself analyzing the number of of shares, the number people who have signed up and style quiz responses?

RR: That’s really where we have a ton of value in MiaMia is our data. Every single user interaction is logged not to sell or make public, but to make sure it’s a more usable tool for our users.

NF: What has surprised you the most about this data?

RR: What has surprised me is that so many people are willing to give personal information because they realize this will help the tool become more personalized. I’m also surprised by the amount of shares that occur within the platform. When we started this we felt that beauty was social, but to see it in the data really validates our original thesis for the company.

NF: Can you talk about what it’s like to work with advisors and what that relationship can be like?

RR: It’s really important to have advisors. One advisor doesn’t fit all needs. One may be from the industry, one may help with marketing, one may help with partnerships or finance. I definitely don’t know everything. This is my first business. I really want to lean on my network and lean on experts.

NF: That says so much about the fact that not only are you building your company, but those advisors are able to build their strengths by giving their advice to you. That’s a cool reciprocation.

How do you think technology will continue to influence the beauty industry?

RR: I’m fascinated by consumer intelligence with it comes to virtual reality and augmented reality. I think those will weave their way into the beauty digital experience. The question for me is whether or not the consumer is ready for it. Although I may try on a look from an app, it doesn’t mean I’m going to make a purchase. I probably want to lean on my friends or see if they have tried the products.

NF: What has it been like being an outsider to the beauty industry?

RR: Because I'm so data-driven, I’m really thinking about the business model and monetization and how to bring in costumers in a cost-efficient way. All my finance and business development background really helps the business. I really need to lean on the beauty industry experts to navigate and connect. We rely on them to create content and looks.

NF: What has been one of the scariest parts of starting this business?

RR: I’m self-funding the company so it’s very risky. We were able to release a good product in our version1 and the scary thing how do we keep it growing and also because I’m dipping into my savings so every day is scary as to whether is this going to be successful or not.

Have comments on our new podcast? Email partnerships@burgundyfox.com