Travel Inspiration for Makeup Innovation with Fiona Chan, Founder & CEO of Youthforia

Stairway to CEO

Description:

Joining the show today is Fiona Chan, the Founder and CEO of Youthforia, a beauty brand creating innovative makeup that acts as a part of your skincare routine. Join us as she shares her story of starting a business during the pandemic, self-funding before finding Shark Tank support, and much more!

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In This Episode You’ll Hear About:

• [01:56] Fiona paints the picture of her early life, education and early jobs.
• [10:44] Working in tech and a startup accelerator before becoming a founder.
• [14:41] How travel inspired the Youthforia brand and the hands-on process behind perfecting the product.
• [21:06] Building the brand on social media through storytelling and education.
• [24:49] Solving the funding problem through prioritizing inventory.
• [25:48] The Shark Tank experience and the story of getting funded.
• [29:21] Navigating new ways to get necessary data in a B2B context.
• [31:32] Product development and what’s next for Youthforia.

To Find Out More:

Fiona Chan on LinkedIn

Fiona Chan on Instagram

Youthforia

Youthforia on TikTok

Lee Greene on LinkedIn

Stairway to CEO

Stairway to CEO on Instagram

Awesome CX

Quotes:

“You learn so much through osmosis.” [0:12:13]

“There was something about the pandemic that really made me think about what I actually wanted to do.” [0:14:13]

“The sharks, the way I perceived it, really love and support entrepreneurship and enjoy what they’re doing. They’re really happy to see deals go through” [0:27:24]

“When I had the idea to create makeup that you could sleep in, my first idea was to make a really nice foundation.” [0:28:42]

“When you switch from a purely B2C business to having a few sales channels, you don’t get data the same way as you would directly from Shopify.” [0:29:22]

“Once you have a retail partner, there are more complexities, especially on the operations side.” [0:30:06]

“I did not start this business to be in legal docs and spreadsheets all day, but it is a big part of fundraising.” [0:30:58]

“I am always in a state of product development. I would say that product development is my number one passion in what I get to do.” [0:31:39]

“I always like to tell people exactly what to expect from me.” [0:32:18]

“Finding people whose working style aligns with mine has been really helpful.” [0:34:24]

“I really love sitting down and just defining what I expect in a role and what the best outcomes are. Doing that really makes the hiring process a lot easier” [0:34:52]

“When I onboard people, I tell them, this is what you can expect from my personality and my working style.” [0:35:07]

“My biggest advice would be just to start. It’s never going to be the right time.” [0:36:28]