#14 Living in the future.
Time since launch: 20 months
$ spent: $1.2 Mil +
Current challenge: Prioritisation, resources, fund allocation.
It’s been four months since my last update. Friends ask, what have you been up to and my first thought is: “Oh, you know — the same”.
We’re still here, selling Bronzing Powder — and now Lip Oils; we’re still here, in the Studio — it’s now open 6 days instead of 1. In a lot of ways, it feels like nothing has changed, our execution has evolved but our purpose has never been more clear. So perhaps what’s changed is that it feels like everyone’s catching on. We’ve simply been treading water.
How’s Fluff?
Our numbers are starting to tell a story, and my love(?) for spreadsheets is developing, as I understand the levers that make this business function and set us up for long term growth and success. As our sales grow so too do our expenses — more stock is required, more hours, more people, more marketing, more funding. I am grateful to be learning this side of the business from a team that supports my vision and is finding ways to make it a stable, reliable reality. Between planning and reacting we are slowly finding Fluff’s feet.
The startup journey is such an interesting — and personal — one. No matter how many books I read or podcasts I listen to, there’s really no blueprint — there are too many variables. Instead, we have to make decisions with as much context as possible, and then deal with what we’ve done in the most graceful way possible.
We’ve made a new product (our Lip Oil) that is so good. We’ve spent all of our time, our energy, and our money on it. Even our manufacturer thinks we are crazy. (We are). It’s the best thing I might ever make and now I want everyone to have one. It looks like fucking art. It’s a conversation starter. It’s something nice to have on your bedside table. Something to buy your mum or your brother or your friend. Something that’s better for everyone’s wallets. And most importantly, something that’s better for the planet. Our new refill model across our Lip Oils & Bronzing Powders are honestly beautiful. There are so few people doing what we’re doing, at this level — and I’m proud to be alongside the handful of brands that care this much. It’s being received incredibly well and is opening Fluff up to new customers and new markets.
I really hope this sets a standard for beauty brands going forward. These types of products can be made. Yes, expensively, but for those who partake, the long term impact (and benefits) are obvious. I also like to think of this as our debt to the planet. A debt that I didn’t previously & ashamedly think about enough.
People are starting to understand Fluff’s message. I’m still reflecting on what or where we may have initially missed the mark, or if we were really just a little too early in the game. It begs the question(s): What happens when you feel like you’re from the future? How do you know when you’re onto something? Is it a gut feeling? Is it one important person telling you so? How do you talk about a total addressable market when there isn’t one because you’re starting a movement? How much time will it take for everyone else to come around?
For now, people seem more willing to join in our discussions, to open up about their own beauty issues, and to welcome our opinion alongside their own. We’ve always said that the future of beauty is more than makeup, and today it feels closer to reality.
I feel an increasing responsibility and pressure with Fluff’s message. People talk about Fluff in that we’re leading a new conversation — I agree — however we still have so much to learn, and so much to do, and I often feel hamstrung by our resources: people, and money, and time. I have to remind myself that all we can do is the best we can do, one thing at a time, and communicate this to our audience along the way.
How’s the industry?
The beauty industry has felt pretty stale, pretty closed off, pretty clicky — pretty the same; pretty unpretty. However, with consumers’ mindsets shifting: wanting more honesty, wanting more responsibility, wanting change — the industry will have to change with them. The groundwork has been laid.
It’s not that consumers want beauty to be more than makeup, but that they now understand as a fundamental truth that beauty is so much more than makeup — and that the industry has literally and metaphorically covered up that story, with products.
Audrey Gelman from The Wing in NY recently posted an article talking about founder honesty and vulnerability. TLDR: brands need to tell a more open story about their path to ‘success’ and the failures it can entail. I think it’s safe to say one of the reasons we have so many Direct to Consumer (D2C) brands in the market today is because of how ‘easy’ so many of us have made it seem. BTS is always a different story. Building something that outlives you is not easy. Sacrifices (personal and professional) have to be made.
Most founders gloss over these facts, and what’s resulted is that brands are running out of stories, and are terrified at the thought of being themselves, — so they end up sounding like everyone else. We are overwhelmed by stuff but underwhelmed by substance.
Selling (and talking) direct to consumer feels like something from the past. Direct with consumer? That feels like the future — one I’m excited to co-build.
How’s the world?
If reading the newspaper is anything to go by, the world is scared, panicking, reacting, and moving too fast. Really, what’s changed? Mother Nature is angry. And so she should be. Younger generations are leading the path for change, and those who are older and aware that they’re still capable, are joining and providing hope for our future. Every bit counts.
How am I?
Good. Tired some days and overly energetic others, so just like everyone else, I guess. Thinking like no one cares one day, being overwhelmed by how many people do the next. The highs are high (and addictive) and the lows can be very low, but I’m trying to move through the latter quicker, and remove any limiting self-beliefs I have.
I’m obsessed with working and talking about work. I’m trying to counterbalance it with the rest of my life. Trying to cleanse unnecessary things: (too much) alcohol, energy vampires, and other general bad habits, including my expectations around time and progress (both personally and professionally.) I’m trying to make time for the things that are important: writing, yoga, running, meditating, wine (just enough), friends, the beach, family.
I’m trying to feel more rather than think so much. This is incredibly hard. Someone told me I’m the most reflective person they know. And I continue to wonder, what’s the benefit of overthinking and what is its downfall? Do people not think enough, and is this what’s wrong with the world? How do you find people who think as you do and how do you guard your time against the people who don’t?
Some days I stop to smell the roses but I can’t smell anything. My senses are numbed. Social media still gets to me — and is a likely contributing factor to the aforementioned numbness. I think we could all be a little more flexible and compassionate. I want to encourage more people to have an opinion, and I want people to accept (without needing to agree) that I (and Fluff) have our own.
I’m still seeing a Psychologist and that is helping a lot, with all the thoughts, and feelings. It’s opened up a lot of wounds, many I didn’t even know I had, but I’m grateful it’s all coming up and out, as opposed to staying in.
Right now I’m interested in little habits that influence the rest of my day/week/month/year.
I’m currently:
Reading: The One Thing + The Artists Way
Listening: to Okay Kaya, Believe over and over again, The Weekend and Miles Davis, + Atomic Habits Podcast + Mike Maples — Living in the Future Podcast.
Doing: More writing (3 pages every morning) and more running. Does anyone want to join me in a Northside run club? DM me.
Working: on ways Fluff can be more inclusive.
Thinking: about feeling more.
If you like this, please share this with someone who might be interested. I’d love that.
Originally published at https://medium.com on March 9, 2020.
