Julie Fredrickson from Stowaway Cosmetics. Have you ever felt like your purse was so heavy it could take someone out with one swing? Every lip gloss, concealer, and eyeliner really adds up! Julie has a found a solution to this problem with Stowaway Cosmetics, which focuses on creating a more mobile product for women on the go. Listen as she tells us how she has transformed the beauty industry with products that actually get used.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Five Dysfunctions of a Team
What CEO do you follow? — Gary Vaynerchuck
Favorite online tool? — Google Apps

Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Religiously.
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Don’t be a jerk. Being kind costs you nothing.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:05 – Nathan introduces Julie
01:30 – Stowaway Cosmetics is about mobile products that women can use anywhere
02:10 – Launched 18 months ago
02:25 – Learning to run an effective ecommerce business
02:35 -- $1.5 M in capital
- 02:45 – Equity
- 03:15 – Valuation is private at an early stage
- 03:45 – A good valuation is a balance
- 05:15 – Gary Vaynerchuck
05:40 – The beauty industry has been giving out products that people don’t finish
06:50 – Brands need to see more repeat purchasing
07:25 – Margins for a palette of eyeshadow
08:10 – Effective and a better value than their competitors
08:30 – Direct consumers
08:45 – A normal margin is about 50% through retailers
09:20 – Their margin is about 85%
09:45 – Monopolies in the makeup industry
10:15 – “You should have a choice as a consumer to carry a product that fits your lifestyle.”
11:00 – Weighing down your purse with cosmetics
11:35 – Launched in Feb 2015
12:00 – Fundraising started in early 2014
12:15 – Valuation was based on pre-sales
13:25 – Influence in the marketplace
14:05 – Passed $100k in lipsticks sold
14:20 – Their focus changed to repeat purchasing and having a comfortable growing rate
15:20 – Now they spend nothing on marketing
16:25 – They care more about repeat customers than getting more customers
17:30 – On average, women come back to purchase again in 90 days
- 18:20 – 40% have made at least 3 purchases
- 19:00 – minimalists vs. maximalists
19:30 – Follow at Julie at @stowaway on Twitter and on Anchor
21:55 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Find a problem and do the research to come up with a good solution.
Look at a particular industry and evaluate where its setbacks are.
Develop a relationship with your customers.

Resources Mentioned:

Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Google Apps – Julie’s favorite online tool for her business
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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