Over ten years ago, you took a leap of faith to leave Condé Nast where you had a job at Lucky Magazine to work with as an editorial-assistant for fashion blogger Garance Doré (while she is known as one of the first fashion bloggers, this was before blogging had a steady stream of revenue). Fast forward to today, you and Garance are still working together and have just launched Doré, a new skincare brand. Do you believe it’s necessary to take big risks to be a successful entrepreneur? Can you talk about what that decision was like and how you weigh risk both personally and professionally?
At the time, when I left Condé Nast, everyone thought I was crazy to go work for a blogger! Condé Nast was certainly seen as the ultimate publishing house and as someone who dreamed of working in fashion magazines from the age of 12, it felt a little crazy! 12 years later, here I am and Lucky is sadly no more. It certainly felt like it was a risk to leave, but I had been so personally inspired by Garance’s content and it felt like she was also ready to commit to me with this position in a way that Lucky wasn’t. I figured, why not? I was so young, I knew if it didn’t work for some reason there were a lot of places still left to explore. But here I am!
When it comes to risk taking as an entrepreneur, I think you have to assess risk from a level of comfort. There are certain places I’m willing to be risky, and places where I’m not - like product. At the end of the day, you need to be able to sleep at night, so I do think risk is really about knowing yourself, your values, and what you’re comfortable with as an entrepreneur.
You’ve talked about attending a silent meditation retreat in California as a turning point in your career - can you share a little more about what that experience was like and how it changed or impacted you and your career? Is meditation still part of your daily routine (as someone who doesn’t meditate regularly I’m alway looking for inspiration!)
I wish I could say I’m still meditating daily, but it’s a habit that comes and goes for me!
The retreat was something we had wanted to explore as we had been building out our retreat programming for Doré in its past life, and for whatever reason I felt especially pulled to this experience at Spirit Rock. It was truly transformational for me, for a number of reasons. First, to be completely disconnected from everyone and everything is such a gift today and creates an incredible reset. It’s something I’d like to do more often because it changes your perspective on everything, truly. As someone who carries a lot of responsibility - as an entrepreneur, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a friend…sometimes we don’t realize the weight of what we carry and being free of it all even if just for a moment can really help you shift your priorities, set boundaries, and help to understand the importance of taking time for yourself.
Professionally, at the retreat I realized that I didn’t want to carry the weight of the site anymore, and that it was okay to close that chapter. This is something about the experience that Garance and I shared - when we connected again just after the retreat, we both felt the same way. As someone who has always been focused on a certain idea of success and perfection, during this retreat I was able to essentially forgive myself for creating that mental burden that was completely self-inflicted. It made me feel okay to let go of something and recognize that it was time to move on, and that moving on didn’t mean I had failed. This was major for me!
You obviously found a business partner in Garance early on in your career - did you ever imagine the relationship lasting so long and what do you think has been the key to your professional success together despite working thousands of miles apart?
I definitely didn’t imagine that when we started working together that this is how things would turn up, but I’ve always loved working with and supporting strong women. Even in college when I worked retail jobs, I loved plugging into that energy. And Garance is a true visionary, it’s impossible not to be constantly inspired when working with her. I think it’s been a beautiful story, and a relationship built on trust, creativity, perseverance, and in many ways a shared outlook on life. I’m incredibly grateful that Garance has given me so much room to grow within the context of collaborating with her - I think this is rare, and truly a gift!
You and Garance decided to launch Doré, a new skincare brand in a space that one could argue is already crowded with products associated with celebrity names and faces. Can you talk about the motivation to bring a new one to market and what makes Doré different from other products out there? Having worked in media for so long, we had been spoiled for years with the chance to try every skincare product you can think of - our beauty closet was huge and I didn’t have to buy a single beauty product for over 10 years. But the more we tried the latest trends, the latest ingredients and treatments, the more exhausted our skin became - for me I was dealing with terrible hormonal acne and skin sensitivity, Garance with reactive skin. We would both constantly go back to French pharmacy products because they were so gentle, but we had learned so much about clean beauty and didn’t feel great about buying products on the market with questionable ingredients. When the idea came to us of taking this decade plus of trying everything, of having the greatest connections in the industry, and building our own clean, gentle and effective skincare that could be accessible we knew we had to do it.
With Doré, we wanted to create products that would be effective, that would be suitable for the most sensitive skin, that would be EWG Verified clean, and that would also simplify skincare routines. You’re getting the highest quality formulas at the best price possible because we wanted to pull out the marketing margin that had been stuffed into overpriced skincare and passed along to the consumer. This was really about building trust with our customers - something we had done for years with our readers through the site. For us, if a product is great and accessible, it’s something you’ll share with your friends and family, and that’s the magic of a forever hero product and a great brand.
You and your business Doré are based in Bedford but the products themselves are manufactured in France, can you talk about what it was like to try and launch the business during Covid given all the supply chain challenges?
It was incredibly challenging! I was in Bedford, Garance in New Zealand, our manufacturer in France…but it was important to us to manufacture everything in France because of the quality of excellence in their formulating and sourcing. And our partners really understood what we meant when we told them we wanted to reimagine French Pharmacy skincare.
There were a lot of sample shipments around the world, Zoom calls, and it probably took us quite a bit longer to get everything exactly right because we couldn’t sit in a room together. But we got there! And I think seeing the power of the world continuing to move forward when everything else felt so stuck kept me incredibly inspired and motivated during such a challenging time.
It’s been about six months since Doré debuted and you started shipping products directly to customers through your website. How is it going so far? What have been the greatest challenges and rewards of running the business?
It’s been a beautiful whirlwind! The greatest rewards have been the feedback we get from our community - to hear that we’ve helped someone who has had problems with their skin makes me incredibly proud, because I know what an impact that can have on self-confidence. Seeing a product we created on a shelf in a store for the first time at Credo was also incredibly surreal.
In terms of challenges, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything I’d like to! And we have so many other things we’d like to be launching and doing, but we’re trying to pace ourselves, to be smart about how we operate, and to build the business for long term success rather than just as a flash in a pan. Sometimes that means slowing things down a little and saying more no that you’d think!
How did running a very successful fashion blog help prepare you to start a direct to consumer business?
It taught me a lot about the importance of community, and getting to know your audience. It also taught me a lot about how to be a storyteller, and to celebrate great stories, and that’s something that I think is crucial for any business.
You decided to raise an initial round of funding for Doré through an SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) from a group of women investors (disclosure, I was one of those investors) can you talk about the decision to do so and what that experience was like?
Yes! We’ve raised through two SPVs as part of larger rounds of funding we’ve put together for the business. When I learned about what an SPV was, and how it worked, it felt like such a natural extension of the community-focused approach we’ve always taken. It allowed us to bring together an incredible group of diverse investors across experiences, backgrounds, locations and life stages who have become the ultimate champions and ambassadors for the brand. Many of these investors are also entrepreneurs or work in other businesses, and they bring incredible tactical and operational experience to us and I’ve learned so much for this group. It’s a wonderful support structure that I’m very fortunate we have access to.
What advice would you give other women looking to make a career change or leap to start their own venture?
I think the most important things are knowing what your end goal is, and really connecting with yourself to make sure there’s alignment with your work and the way you want to live. I think we live in a time where there’s a lot of pressure to start something, and to always be so busy, but I don’t really believe in that! And solo entrepreneurship is so hard - I don’t know that partnership is celebrated enough in our culture when it comes to work. Maybe a silent retreat isn’t for everyone, but taking the time to connect with yourself and see what you really want when you turn the volume all the way down on the outside stuff feels essential for contentment.
Lightning Round:
Best thing about living in our area?
The beauty of nature in our magical little village. This time of year is especially magical.
Fashion and beauty staples?
Fashion - I try to stick to a uniform that consists mostly of perfect basics and have found brands that work for my body shape. APC, Toteme and Nili Lotan are 3 favorites for things like jeans, trousers, t-shirts and blazers. Grenson for shoes. A white button down will save you in any scenario (I like Chava Studio).
For beauty - Besides Doré, all things Crown Affair when it comes to my hair, Cle Cosmetics CCC Cream, Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks for a little color and Ilia Mascara. And I live for a great massage.
Business you’d most like to see open in our towns?
I was just talking with a friend about how great it would be to do a modern retail collective space with products from all of the amazing founders that live in our area. I’ve also always dreamed of opening up an old school news dealer type place that has a great selection of magazines and newspapers, delicious coffee, and a breakfast and lunch counter. Oh and if anyone has found amazing hot yoga, please share! I’d be over the moon if we had a Modo Yoga location in Bedford!
What would you do with one extra hour everyday?
I’m obsessed with sleep and think we could use more of it. I think an extra hour of sleep every day would be life changing for our mood, health, relationships. It’s essential!
