I Sold My Car & Built a Cult Haircare Startup Founder Story

our guest didn't mean to start a hair care brand

so how did it end up on store shelves

used by Lindsay Lohan Dua Lipa

and Nicole Kidman

with thousands following before it even launched

this is Flo co founder of Sisterwould

and this is the story of building a global brand

by asking why not

I sold my car

and I thought that would be enough to start a business

how did you eventually knew that

the product was ready to launch

there's 2.2 billion people that suffer from blind

and visual impairments

and only 15% of them can actually read Braille

we would contact the celebrity hairstylist on Instagram

Lindsay Lohan gave us her personal number

to then ship out her products

I became a single mom

I didn't have any finances to start a business

if you could text your day one founder one sentence

quick thing before we get started

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okay let's get into it

Floriye welcome to Founders in Motion

Floriye is the co founder of Sisterwould

a hair care brand that gained thousands of followers

pre launch used by a list celebrities across the world

like Lindsay Lohan Dua Lipa

Nicole Kidman to name a few

and we'll dive deeper into that

and you know what's crazy

they didn't even set out to build a hair care brand

at first Floriye

I'm so excited to dive deeper into your story today

and before we just jump heads in with all the questions

can you briefly describe what Sisterwould is

thanks for having me here today Thea

um Sisterwould um

we're a premium hair care brand

we are scientifically formulated

with skincare ingredients for your hair and scalp

and we're also an inclusive beauty brand

so our products have Braille

and a tactile imprinting system

for the blind and visually impaired community

everyone deserves to be seen and included

that's a very beautiful introduction

thank you

and we'll definitely dive deeper into all the aspects

so don't worry okay

so let's take it all the way back

how did the idea of a premium

inclusive hair care brand come about

was it always a vision

um so when I started on the journey

I used to formulate my own skincare for my dad's skin

he has psoriasis all over his body

and I love looking at the benefits of ingredients

and how to take care of the skin

I also have been in the beauty industry for 16 years

so I would do facials hair styling

and I loved everything beauty

and I wanted to create this new skincare

and I got my business partner

Rina join me on the venture

as we were discussing skincare

we figured that we also had hair care problems

and when I had researched about hair care and skincare

I was like we should be treating our hair

the same way we do the skin on our face

so the same way you take care of your skin

you're detoxing exfoliating

removing build up we wanted multi purpose product

then Rina said to me like

how about people that can't read packaging

cause our mums couldn't read the packaging

on the bottles and we'd ask them and they're like yeah

they don't know which one's which in the shower

there's 2.2 billion

people that suffer from blind and visual impairments

and only 15% of them can actually read Braille

so we included the Braille

but then we added our own tactile system of lines

for shampoo and dots for conditioner on the packaging

and this made it more inclusive

so our mums could also differentiate between the two

then we took it a step further by adding

adding the sensory experience

so it was scalp care and hair care

and then the formula texture

scent and tone

helps blind and visually impaired people

differentiate it further oh my God

there's so many things to unpack from that

it did and it all just was like a build up

like you start your idea and then eventually

something more and more gets added to it

and then your brand comes to life

and your vision comes to life

and your purpose comes to life

so it just starts off with one idea

but you keep growing as you're growing with a business

and even now we're still growing with a business

formulating new products and

seeing what customers are concerned with their hair

like as the business grows

things trends change and so it's

it's always a journey

super awesome with the hair care issue

like you experience it your family member experience it

and your immediate circle experiences

but how do you think about like market demand

so how do you assess if this is like a burning need

that the consumer needs

and there are no hair care brands are really addressed

it like how did you go about testing that

we actually went to um

the shopping centres and looked at product

there's different um

shampoos and conditioners for all different hair types

but there was actually nothing to do with scalp

care as well when

realising

that our scalp and hair should be treated the same

um that's where I use skincare ingredients and ideas

and implemented that into hair care

because I've worked both in the hair industry

in the skin beauty space so um yeah

other competitors weren't doing that

and over the years people are starting to

but it's still um

not um where it needs to be with skin and hair

yeah I love that

and um for those listening um

flow

so kindly brought me some samples of Sisterwould over

and I was just reading the packaging

before we did this and I was just

saying that

it's one of the first conditioner that I've ever seen

recommend you to

as actually massage it into your scalp

that's really cool um

and I totally understand the struggle of bleach hair

cause I used to bleach my hair

all different type of colours

I went blue then blonde and then all this sorts

the team spent a long time in um

in production and in development

how did you eventually

knew that the product was ready to launch

we did have struggles with development um

especially with packaging um

we had one manufacturer do our bottles design

and we paid for the molds

and we got our bottles back

and it just collapsed and it didn't have any structure

and we're like we can't use this

this is not gonna do well

and we had to start all over again and scratch from

start from the start and and find someone new

so it is a bit of trial and error

and testing the product and doing reiterations

we had

different beads in our shampoo that were melting

away in formulation

so it wasn't actually creating that texture we wanted

and until we got everything that we wanted

and tested it out and loved it in our hair

as well as getting the feedback from others

then we knew that the product was ready

so it did take two and a half years and um

it was a long journey

but we got there in the end and we were able to launch

but even when we were launching

we were afraid to launch

cause we didn't feel ready to launch as well

and you don't realize when you're starting a business

I sold my car

and I thought that'll be enough to start a business

but as you're going on you're still investing

and there's new things that just pop up and

you know developing your website

doing the branding

we didn't know any of this when we started and um

so we needed to launch just to

be able to sell some product

to continue getting the business started

and yes I just start even if it's not hundred percent

nothing is ever 100% right

like you always like as a builder

company is your baby

and you wanna make that like perfect

but like perfect is unachievable

you mentioned like some issues with manufacturing

development

like I wanted to ask like as a starting brand

how did you think about finding the right manufacturer

we wanted to be made in Australia

didn't want to just get it

product that was already invented

white label put a brand

so we actually paid for research and development

and own the IP of the product

so no one else actually has this formula

and it all started by

literally looking at packaging and being like

oh this is in this town

let's find let's Google a location that's in this town

and cause by law you have your

the addresses behind packaging

so that's how it kind of started

just by seeing what was in the market

and then so scrappy and then just being like

is this how we start I don't know

let's just let's just try and my business partner Rina

she's um really good with LinkedIn

so her background's HR recruiting

so it was actually really hard to get in touch with

people that would help formulate

and so we went on LinkedIn

and we actually got contacts off LinkedIn

to get emails

and sometimes just replying on the website

you don't get through the door for sure

I love that you know like alternative ways to get um

get in contact with the right partners

I really wanted to talk about pricing briefly

so how did you figure out like

how you were gonna price your product

um so you first have to begin with

what type of products are you creating

are you doing FMCG

are you trying to create a premium product

are you trying to be in the middle

and when we first started

we didn't understand all this concept

and we Learned all this stuff as we were going on

and we wanted to our vision was like

we wanna be in Sephora you know

we wanna create a product that is amazing

and we're in Sephora and um

so we wanted to create high quality products

and then we had to look at margins and see um

is this gonna be sustainable for business growth

and as we were learning and got going into our business

right now after two and a half years being online

we've been able to grow and ex

expand in the US and Australia

and this has enabled us to then reduce our price

so our price was $58 and now we have reduced it to $39

which is amazing because we wanted

this is a huge reduction too

yeah we wanted to make it more accessible

and inclusive with our mission

and give back to the community

so this was something that um

we were aiming to do and a lot of brands

you see are putting up their prices

especially in this day and age and time

and we're like OK

we need to figure out how do we lower this price

we wanna be able to be there for most people for sure

so you know

visually impaired

communities are able to access it in pharmacies

because if you're in um

only one sector someone else might miss out

so we wanted to be able to

you know still be premium

and high quality at an affordable price

without compromising the formula

and having that same high quality um

and being able to expand has given us that opportunity

which is amazing and yeah

I mean I think that's so beautiful

um I think one of my favorite thing about sister would

is the kind of accessibility mission

across different communities

but also like you mentioned

trying to be at a affordable price

but also provide a very high quality product

um and speaking of interest and building that um

relationship with retailers

so going deeper into that

so getting I feel like

getting that initial traction

is probably one of the hardest things for a consumer

brand so

what strategy did you use to acquire your first

100 purchases

so we when we were starting the journey

we already created our Instagram

Rina and I had our own social Instagram as well

we had our community

I've been doing makeup for 16 years

so I used to create videos and

and Rina used to be a beauty blogger as well in the US

and we used

our platform to start growing that community

and letting people know that we're developing

um something we weren't even

we were even trying to keep it a bit secret and like

so make it enticing

and get people to follow along that journey

and do like

put a post up and be like

something's coming soon and then we um

did giveaways on our page

we got influencers to

share their day in their life on our sisterhood page

so once we thought of the name sisterhood

we ended up starting all our socials

and getting the website and um

we did giveaways as well to grow

so we were trying to build our email list

our website had a landing page

we'll try to um

do that at the beginning to

then when we were able to launch

we weren't launching to crickets

we had a community

and people waiting to purchase our products

and try

so I think even if you don't have your product ready

because it does take so long

you can just start building your community

yeah and what are some recommendations you have

for someone that is trying to

kind of drum up that initial interest

maybe even in a situation like you and Rina was

where there's no product yet

like how do you build an intentional community

that will eventually align with your brand

yep so we ended up Dming people that we knew as well

so at the start we were really hustling

we love that

and Instagram would block you from messaging people so

um we were trying

we were spending every night

every day just sending texts

um asking girls like what are your hair concerns

and we really did put so much time and effort

at the beginning

you really have to try whatever it is that you can

especially if it's not gonna cost you anything

and it's your time yeah

you gotta put that time in and then um

that's this sort of the first step

yeah hmm

so what were you dming these girls like hey

like how is your hair these days

like what do you need in the market

yeah so we're like

we're gonna start a new beauty brand

skin and hair what are your hair care concerns

what are your skincare concerns

like we're trying to not give it away too much

you know um

I wanted to talk a little bit more about

so you mentioned getting into these retailers

marketplace like obviously

congratulations on getting into revolve in the States

and then Chemist Warehouse in Australia

along other places so

how did opportunities

working with these platforms come about

opportunity doesn't just come

you have to go and get that opportunity

yes and we reached out from the beginning

we'll reach out to retailers

even if we're just sharing our journey

having a meeting with them

so revolver was one of our first um

partnerships and that's been amazing

Rena's from the States so

she has a community there

that

we wanted to be able to make our products available

in the States for them to purchase

that's where all her family is

and it was um

we were so excited when we got into revolve

cause so many celebrities um

buy products there and I mean

even common people like I shop at revolve all the time

all around the world so um

that was the first and then when you get into one place

you're like let's

let's find more let's keep reaching out

we can do this so

and from one opportunity

actually gives you that credibility on your business

to then go into a different store

or um

get into more places as soon as I tell someone I'm

have you heard of my brand

and then that would

would have not heard about it before

I'm like oh

we're in Chemist Warehouse

and then straight away they were like

let me see it yeah

so it does help um

getting out there when we started

we were direct to our consumers

but then we realized

we should be getting into businesses as well

and having that retail presence

really helps grow the brand

and the business I have to ask

so Lindsay Lohan Dua Lipa and Nicole Kidman

they've all used your product

so how did that happen me and Rina are crazy

we try everything and we would contact like

the celebrity hairstylists on Instagram and

or we'll message their agency

and actually Lindsay Lohan

gave us her personal number to then

ship out her products so that's crazy

and that's just being authentic

writing a nice message talking about who you are and

and what your brand is and then those

we never thought that

those opportunities will just come about

but it's

been incredible to see these celebrities

love our products and say that they loved our products

I need to know so you go on like Lindsay Lohan's page

right yeah

and then you're like see that she's tagged a stylist

yeah and then you go to the stylist page

you stalk the stylist

and then do you just like call DM the stylist

you try DM them you see if they've got an email

um

and then they'll say yeah

send us a product and you know

if they love it

then they'll use it on their celebrity hair

on their celebrity if the hairstylist likes it

so the hairstylist is the professional yeah

that knows what's good for the hair

you got the stamp of approval

you know

and then did the celebrities post about it

um

some some did yeah

and some haven't but that's fine too

because you're still excited that they've tried it

and we keep sending it to people

we hope that someone shares our brand one day

and supports our business and likes it

but in this same age

everything is like marketing expense yeah

you know um

influencers are very expensive

or even celebrities

and they've gotten a lot more expensive over time yeah

I just can't believe

you have Lindsay Lohan's personal number sorry

I'm like

so I don't even know if I'm allowed to disclose

I slept at too late uh

it's okay

it's not like we're gonna text her so it's fine

but that's still crazy to me

sometimes the best messages are not like

a reels or post about your product

it's about like just that personal DM that they're like

hey like love your mission

love your product love what you're doing

and those are kind of the small motivators

that get you through the humps of the everyday

just getting that feedback yeah

makes you get happy emotional

excited and it's actually what keeps us going

because it's actually so difficult

to start and launch a business

but it's actually rewarding at the same time

being a mom and growing a baby and growing a business

it's like the same thing yeah

I always say that like your business is your baby

but I've never really experienced it

so now we have the like

the credibility of someone that's been there

to say that

um and who would be your dream celebrity

caught using sisterhood

my dream celebrity would actually be Huda Beauty

I see she has curly hair like me and I'm like

this will be so amazing on her hair

and she has such a big community of women

and the things that she does with her Huda hotline

and it's like what I do as well with my personal um

page I'm always trying to inspire women and yeah um

not just you know

have a business

I actually want it to be purposeful and give back

and I see Huda doing that all the time

and I would love for her to try products

I love that

and Huda has a really great founder story as well

like she started from truly zero

and now Huda

Beauty is probably one of the biggest beauty brands

in the world

throughout this entire journey through development

through launching

was there ever like an like an o moment

this could really break the business

it was covid pandemic

there was so much fear in starting a business

and our bottles like we're collapsing and

and I was like am I meant to start this

it's always like solving a problem

and thinking of a solution

that will help us get through that stage

the starting journey is always the hardest

so really like

persisting through that trout

is such a big hurdle for a lot of founders to overcome

I actually messaged Rina last night being

telling her how just we're getting organic sales

and there's no ads going out there

and people are purchasing and repurchasing

and I'm like we've hit a milestone

and we just try to celebrate the wins along the way

and remember how far we've come

because you do get lost in

in the journey and you forget how much you have

how far you've come like there's so much

so many things to do in the moment

and so many things to progress

but you forget to be like hey

like a year ago this is who I was

but now you're in a completely different headspace

you're dealing with other issues and you're like wow

like a year ago

I can't believe I was stressed about that

cause it ended up working out either way

yeah and I think it's not just a lesson for

for building a business

but it's just a lesson in life in general

um to sometimes look back and

be appreciative of everything

that you've been through yeah

and being grateful and being along the way

yeah

and what would you say is the most valuable lesson

that you've Learned as a founder

something you wish someone had told you earlier

I think at the beginning I didn't know about podcast

I didn't know about founding stories

and

being able to listen to a podcast like this

and get insights into a business

I wish someone told me that before I started a business

so we were just learning along the way

and then we started to listen to more founder stories

and um

join communities doing a course you develop

you go join another community and networking

and Rina and I would actually get mentoring

so that really helps um

getting someone to mentor you in the journey

before you start or even while you're going through it

um so we would reach out to other big beauty brands and

um one was Tara from mermaid hair

even though she was a competitor

she still gave us advice helped us along the way

um so don't be afraid to reach out

ask questions

um look

go and join other women that are doing the same thing

or people and be a part of communities

I think if I had that support before we started

yeah um

it would have made a big impact on

getting to where we wanted to be

a lot quicker

making less mistakes and but it's still rewarding

because now I can help others back

by sharing that journey so yeah

and I think oh my God that's such a subtle plug

cause I think one of the reasons why we try to build

Foundry's motion is because

putting the lessons in advance

of building or like

while you're in the process

the process of it can really expedite your timeline or

or stops you from making like

fatal mistakes to your business

if you could text your day one founder one sentence

what would it be does she know who I am

yes she knows that you're like

you're like flow of the future okay

I would tell her that I'm really proud of you

and don't be scared and keep going

do you think you're in a place

that you would have never dreamed of

maybe like 3 4 years ago when you started

I'm definitely

in a place that I would have never dreamed of um

you know I became a single mom

I didn't have any finances to start a business

I didn't know how I was gonna take care of my boys

and my vision of doing that was okay

I need to start a business

I felt like I had no choice but to take this path

I used to

help people every day with their skin concerns

make them feel good just so that they knew that um

that they're beautiful inside and out and I'm like

how do I do this worldwide

how do I create a brand so

it's not just about creating this brand of sisterhood

so you you're a sisterhood

we would be there for um

others just like a sister would be

I thought if I didn't um

do it then I'll get old one day and I'll be like

I never tried

and I never did what I was passionate about

my background was accounting

so it was oh wow

I started off with accounting

and I missed art and did a makeup course

and I just found that that was my passion

you found a true calling

it doesn't matter to me if the business

fails or succeeds it's more every step of the way

like how it's impacting someone's life

and you know

when you're washing your hair and it smells good

it helps you feel good in your brain

I think this idea of being purposeful

really resonates in this day and age

cause I think consumers can really see

like what a brand stands for

and um

I think as a consumer

you're always looking to support people

you're support trying to support stories

not just a singular product or like a skew

and I do sense so much of that from your story flow

about um

how you started and how you're going and um

like all the little struggles and all the like chaotic

chaos moments that you did at

the beginning to kind of drum up the initial interest

and um yeah

I mean

thank you for your time and coming on Founders Emotion

and I loved our conversation

thanks for having me I enjoyed it so much

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