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From Startup To Celeb Favourite Tanning Brand: The VANI-T Success Story with Tania Walsh
228 Plays1 year ago
In this episode, I chat with Tania Walsh, the CEO and Founder of VANI-T, and someone I was honoured to work alongside as General Manager from 2016–2019.
VANI-T is an iconic Australian luxury tanning and cosmetics brand – and were the global pioneers of natural spray tanning solution in 2004. Quickly rising to cult-like status, VANI-T became an international success story with over 15,000 salons in more than 15 countries worldwide. Today, the range has expanded to include award-winning products across spray tanning, self tanning, makeup and wellness – and is a celebrity favourite, loved by more than 14 million users worldwide.
In this episode, I chat with Tania about:
- The huge level of success VANI-T achieved early on which led to the business making $1 million in it’s first year.
- Maintaining incredible relationships with staff and her views on the mutual trust and respect between CEO and staff.
- What being a visionary CEO means and how this is an advantage for seeing the destination clearly and identifying trends before they impact the market.
- Some of the biggest challenges she has experienced throughout her journey and the importance of taking the challenges as a chance to come out of the other side stronger.
and so much more!
You can find VANI-T at:
Website: vani-t.com
Instagram: @vanitofficial_
For more from Tania, follow her on Instagram at @tanialeewalsh
Want more of THE CEO’s WING WOMAN®? Find more at https://www.oliviajenkins.co/pages/podcast
Find Olivia at:
Instagram: @oliviajenkins.co
TikTok: @oliviajenkins.co
If you loved this episode – be sure to ‘subscribe’ on Apple Podcasts or ‘follow’ on Spotify and leave a 5-star review!
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Transcript
Introduction to Podcast & Guest
00:00:00
Speaker
You're listening to the See You's Wingwoman podcast.
00:00:05
Speaker
I'm Olivia Jenkins, your host and virtual coach, helping you scale your brand to cult-like status. Since 2019, I've helped over 100 clients generate in excess of $45 million in revenue. And now it's time for me to share my tips, tricks and strategies to help you supercharge your growth. I'm here to help you step into your power to develop a bulletproof strategy and growth mindset to match. Consider me your secret weapon to scale. Let's get started.
00:00:35
Speaker
Welcome to the CEO's Wing Woman Podcast, the ultimate growth mindset podcast for ambitious CEOs wanting to create cult brands. I'm your host, Olivia Jenkins, and today we have a very special guest, Tanya Walsh, the CEO and founder of Vanity, and someone I was honored to work alongside as general manager from 2016 to 2019.
00:00:58
Speaker
Vanity is an iconic Australian luxury tanning and cosmetics brand and we're the global pioneers of natural spray tanning solution in 2004.
00:01:07
Speaker
Quickly rising to cult-like status, Vanity became an international success story with over 15,000 salons in more than 15 countries worldwide.
Evolution and Expansion of Vanity
00:01:17
Speaker
Today, the range has expanded to include award-winning products across spray tanning, self-tanning, makeup, and wellness, and is a celebrity favorite loved by more than 14 million users worldwide. Please welcome Tanya Walsh to the show.
00:01:33
Speaker
Thank you, Olivia. I'm honored to be here. And when you say it like that, it's quite overwhelming to think of manage to squeeze all that in. It's amazing. You're amazing. I'm so excited to have you on the show. When I first decided to launch a podcast, I knew that you're one of the first people that I wanted to bring on the show and find out more about your story. I obviously know so much about you.
00:01:54
Speaker
And I know so much about the brand from having that close connection working together, but I'm really excited for you to explain a little bit more about vanity and about your
Tanya's Journey to Vanity's First Product
00:02:03
Speaker
story. So to kick off, can you just give listeners a little bit of an understanding about who you are and also a little bit about vanity so they can find out more about the brand?
00:02:13
Speaker
Sure. So I guess my background has been in the beauty industry since I was like 19. So I studied beauty therapy and then I had a beauty college for 10 years and tanning or spray tanning was only just launched in the US. So it was like an airbrush type application. And I was like really intrigued by that method. So we started training my students with that concept and then quickly found that this product that we're using was quite top.
00:02:41
Speaker
So I wanted to try and find a product that would give a real authentic tan without the nasty, so as natural organic as possible. And that's kind of where the journey started. So I studied cosmetic chemistry and then worked with a formulator that used to work with Jellic to create our first product, which was Liquid Sun, which was the world's first natural organic spray tan solution.
00:03:06
Speaker
Amazing. It's so wild to think that, you know, today we obviously see tanning in a whole different space, but I'd love for you to explain to listeners what spray tanning was actually like in 2004 with the machines and how different everything
Innovations in Spray Tanning
00:03:20
Speaker
was. Can you give a little bit of an explanation so that they can paint a picture of what spray tanning was back then?
00:03:26
Speaker
So I guess when we first started, it was through an airbrush machine. So it would take 45 minutes with tiny little circles applied to the body. So not very conducive to a quick service. And then the machines, they changed. It's like a spa bath machine that they converted with a gun on the end and things like that. So improvised to create a much faster method. So hence, it went from 45 minutes to about a five minute.
00:03:56
Speaker
application time. It's amazing. So you achieved a huge level of success quite early and I think part of that is being a global pioneer in natural spray tanning. You took to market something that was unheard of because everyone in the market was still using a chemically based formulation. So that I think is amazing in itself and obviously contributed to the huge amount of success that you saw.
Vanity's Early Success and Growth
00:04:22
Speaker
But can you explain to listeners a little bit about your success? Because I believe I have it correct in saying it was zero to a million in your first year of business, which back in 2004 is even more incredible. So I'd love for you to explain what happened in that first year. What was that like? What was going through your head when you got to the end of that 12 months and thought, oh my God, we've just made over a million dollars in our first year of business.
00:04:49
Speaker
Yeah, it blew me away actually. I think, like you said, being in the right place at the right time back then, there was no such thing as natural organic products in general, you know, maybe here and there, but it's obviously since then become quite a big trend. And I guess first up, the growth came from, you know, we've got sales reps on in each state and people in the US started importing it. And then shortly after that, we had a
00:05:16
Speaker
the UK distributor approached us, so it kind of just blew out very quickly to take the international stage. And this is just one product, right? This is just liquid sun spray tan solution at this point? Yes, that's right. Amazing. To think one SKU could have that much power. Incredible. And when you think back to some of the first things that you did in that 12 months,
00:05:38
Speaker
How much of your time was spent working on the front end of the business? Would you say that you spent a lot more time at that point in sales and marketing and really grassroots sales and marketing strategies? Was there a particular formula that you followed back then in that first year? In the beginning, I was taking phone calls, orders, I was out on the road pitching and showing people the products. At that point in time, I was actually making the products in my kitchen.
00:06:04
Speaker
and labeling and printing my labels. So every aspect of the business I was doing myself. And it just kind of grew so quickly that we ended up getting a warehouse and then hired some staff. I know you very well. And I know we were talking offline about how you are textbook visionary. And I'm keen to explore that with you a little bit further.
00:06:26
Speaker
as we go on in the episode today. But I think that's something that really rings true to me that for startup culture to be a visionary is a massive advantage because you can see where you want to be. You can see your destination so clearly and you can really make things happen. Whereas I believe a lot of the time with integrators, they're better at executing the vision and often are better once a business is a little bit more established. So I'm really keen to explore that a little bit more.
00:06:55
Speaker
With the kids, I know that you're a mum. Can you just explain to listeners how many kids you have and where that happened in your journey as
Balancing Motherhood and Business
00:07:02
Speaker
well? Because I think that's really important to share. You juggled the competing responsibilities of mum life and having this business that was bigger than Ben Hur in the first 12 months. How many children did you have when you first started the business and what happened from there as the kids got a little bit older?
00:07:19
Speaker
So I have three, Braden who's 26, Blake is now 19 and Savannah 17. But when I started the business, Blake was six weeks old. So I would have him in a pouch and make products and do all the things that I needed to do in the business. So it was good in the fact that I didn't need to put him into childcare and that type of thing. And then two years later, Savannah came along. So she would come along with me to business meetings and things like that.
00:07:47
Speaker
But yeah, when I left my husband in 2011, I'd kind of spent the first six or seven years really grassroots in the business, hustling and things like that. And then all of a sudden, I had to also switch and become a full-time mum, whereas before that, my ex-husband would take care of the children so I could focus and keep going. But trying to juggle both was extremely hard.
00:08:14
Speaker
I think even just as a parent, I can't imagine how difficult it would be having to be two roles in one and the role model mum and the role model dad. Even that alone is a massive job, but then through the pressures of business into the mix as well. And I'm sure there would have been a lot of travel because I know that the business has an incredible international exporting partnership set up with lots of different distributors. So I imagine you were doing quite a lot of international travel whilst all of this was going on with the kids as well.
00:08:41
Speaker
Yes, in some cases I will take them with me. Other times it would be getting a nanny. So there was a lot of guilt and I guess a little bit of resentment against business because it took me away from my children. But I knew that, you know, you have to just keep going, keep going.
00:08:57
Speaker
I don't think I've ever asked you this question, but I was thinking it as you were chatting. At what stage did you think, okay, Vanity has a mind of its own now. I need to do something with the beauty college.
Selling the Beauty College
00:09:08
Speaker
What happened with the beauty college? Yeah, within about three or four months, I ended up selling it to one of my students so I could purely focus on Vanity here.
00:09:19
Speaker
So one of the things I wanted to talk about as well, and it sort of leans into the incredible mum that you are, because I think having worked in the business alongside you for several years and getting to know you really, really well, there is something about you that's incredibly warm and nurturing and you just envelope everyone in your motherly love. And I think that one of the things I've always admired about you is the incredible relationships you have with your team.
00:09:47
Speaker
past and current and I think it's quite rare to have a business owner maintain such incredible lifelong relationships with staff once they've left and so I wanted to find out from you so you can explain to listeners as well what is your
Building a Family-like Business Culture
00:10:05
Speaker
blueprint?
00:10:05
Speaker
How do you maintain these amazing relationships and not take it personally when people leave the business? And I'm curious to even know, is this something that you've consciously thought yourself before? Are you aware that you have this amazing skill? No, not consciously. I think it's just part of my personality, my makeup. But I mean, I would say you do get affected personally when someone leaves because
00:10:27
Speaker
I grow that relationship with them and I treat everyone like family members and they also treat my business as if it's their own. People that have worked with me over the years have remained really close friends and you know I've watched them grow up and have their own children, their own family.
00:10:45
Speaker
You have to have trust that the people are doing their work and I've always tried to kind of hire people that compliment in areas that I perhaps aren't as strong in. And I've never been one of those people that kind of like to micromanage people. I give them that freedom because I know in my heart of hearts that they will do their best.
00:11:06
Speaker
Absolutely. And I believe that 100%, because having been in the business, it was very much a family environment. And I know, obviously, falling pregnant quite early in the piece, you were so welcoming around having bubs come in from time to time. And I know you taught me a thing or two around getting babies settled. So I think it's just amazing that you've had these types of relationships with everyone in the business and
00:11:32
Speaker
and have maintained such an amazing relationship after they've gone on to other things, whether that's into their own businesses or into other roles, and I think that's really incredible. When you think about your day-to-day life in the business, I'm curious to know, when you go to work every day and you think about what's in store for you for the rest of the day or the rest of the week or even the rest of the month, are there certain themes or things that are important to you when you think about business?
00:11:57
Speaker
Obviously, the work culture, delivering products to clients that are of a much higher value and quality and something that makes them feel good, look good, and also good for them. Absolutely. I'm glad I asked you that question because what that was is it's a values elicitation question that I learned in NLP. It was really interesting because coming off the back of the conversation we just had about team, the first thing that you said to me was a positive team culture.
00:12:26
Speaker
So that is essentially one of the biggest values I assume in the business as well is to a team and creating a positive team environment, but also creating products that are high performance and high quality as well, which I know is something that you really enjoy being a visionary and it's probably a good time to go into that.
00:12:45
Speaker
So for listeners who are listening to this episode now, if you haven't read the book, Rocket Fuel, go and listen to Rocket Fuel. It's an incredible book and it basically profiles business owners into two categories, either a visionary or an integrator. And visionaries generally are very big picture people and thinkers. They often can solve problems. They're very good at coming up with the vision and where the destination is. They're very good with product development.
00:13:14
Speaker
a lot of the time as well because when you're solving problems for consumers, you're either creating a service to solve that problem or you're creating a product. But taking it back to you Tanya, what does it mean for you to be a visionary? When I'm talking through those characteristics, does that ring true for you and how do you identify as a business owner?
00:13:35
Speaker
I always feel like I've had this gift where I can see trends coming way before they actually impact the market. I just have the vision looking forward as to where I've always wanted vanity to be. When you achieve those goals, it's like a pat on the back for all the hard work and all the struggles that you've gone through.
00:13:55
Speaker
when you see something come to fruition or, you know, even getting things like testimonials or private messages from clients saying, you know, your product's amazing, it's changed my life. Those kind of things is what gets me out of bed in the morning. Absolutely. I'm really curious to explore the product development side as well, because so far we've explained, you know, Liquid Sun had this incredible success really early in the piece, zero to one million in sales in the first year, just from that one product alone.
00:14:23
Speaker
We obviously have in the range many more products that sit within spray tanning, self tanning, makeup, and now wellness. What was the journey of adding these new products in? And when you say you can see the trends coming and you have these gut feelings about trends, is that what happened just before you launched some of these products as well? And is that how you were sort of drawn to know, okay, you know, you had great success with Liquid Sun, but now it's time to introduce something else. How did all of that unfold?
00:14:52
Speaker
Initially, I guess it was just bringing out complementary products that would go with the TAN. I tried to think of what I would like as a client or solving problems that I would have. That generally is where the ideas come from.
00:15:09
Speaker
I mean, I chose the main vanity for the business because I knew it wasn't just tanning that I was going to launch. I wanted to do anything to do with beauty. So as you said, you know, now we do the makeup, the wellness and we're about to launch a whole new category also within the beauty space.
00:15:25
Speaker
Okay and after Liquid Sun was launched what was the next product that came after Liquid Sun? Liquid Sun was then the complementary body products and then we launched Velocity and Makeup we kind of extended that range right out and obviously when you're with me we condense that whole range and then rebranded and all that kind of stuff. For Lisses the mineral makeup collection that was launched when was mineral makeup launched what year would that have been?
00:15:55
Speaker
2005. Amazing. So it was quite early in the piece then. I didn't realize it was that early. Yes. And so with mineral makeup products, and I think this is testament to one of your core values being all about quality and product performance, these products were incredible in terms of highly pigmented would last such a long time because they were so highly pigmented. And I think that was one of the challenges to overcome as a business.
00:16:22
Speaker
but the products were absolutely incredible and there was such a vast collection as well even down to singular pots of eyeshadows that could really support professional makeup artists as well because there were a lot of makeup artists using the products and even the airbrush makeup as well. I'd love for you to explain a little bit about that because that again is relatively unknown and is probably one of those trends that you saw quite early in the piece that you wanted to take to market.
00:16:50
Speaker
Yeah, it was one of those things that I saw straight after Mark would really do well. But the main thing with the airbrush makeup, as much as it was a beautiful product, it was the whole dangerous goods and, you know, transportation and just made it far too hard.
00:17:06
Speaker
It's probably a good time to lean into that because, you know, you've had incredible success in the first year.
Financial Crisis and Recovery
00:17:12
Speaker
You've been, you know, at this point taking lots of different products to market and seeing more success with the expansion into self tanning and then into mineral makeup. And, you know, I'm sure over the almost 20 years in business, because you'll be celebrating your 20th business birthday next year, which is incredible. Congratulations.
00:17:32
Speaker
I'm sure in that timeframe, there's also been challenges along the way. When you look back on your journey, what do you feel comfortable sharing in terms of your challenges? What things have you faced along the way that have really challenged you physically, mentally, spiritually in the business that you've had to find your way through?
00:17:50
Speaker
Every day there's something little that you have to put fires out, et cetera. But the first thing was when I left my husband and had to take care of the children as well. And then I was approached by somebody who offered to take management of the business for a six month period or so just to help me transition my children a bit. So I allowed
00:18:11
Speaker
him to run the business whilst I did that. And then I remember vividly, he came to me and just said, Tanya, we're in trouble. And I was like, what do you mean? He said he'd spent a lot of money launching into the US and I gave him that flexibility to do that. And he came back and just said, look, we're $900,000 in debt. I don't know what we're going to do. We either have to put the business into administration or look at shareholders or something like that.
00:18:38
Speaker
Of course, that was a huge shock to me and kind of put me into spin because I didn't know what action to take. I decided to take on shareholders, which was a very difficult time. I guess there was a lot of wanting to change vanity and it felt like they would take in my child and dressing it differently and teaching all these different things. It was
00:18:59
Speaker
a six year period of mental and emotional exhaustion i guess i just i wanted out and anyone who owns a business it's a very hard decision to kind of pull back from something that created but i just had had enough i just didn't want to be part of it anymore but i was kind of locked into a corner where i couldn't.
00:19:21
Speaker
Luckily, over the years, the business had improved and I've gotten myself into a financial position where I was able to buy those investors out. So now I just have the one investor who I work with really closely. And yeah, he has been a godsend during those times because otherwise, I don't know where I will be right now.
00:19:42
Speaker
An amazing story. I obviously know it well having lived in the business for three, three and a half years. I just think it's absolutely incredible some of the challenges that you faced along the way and being able to get through them. I can't fad them going through a divorce, taking on the ownership of being the primary caregiver for your children, your mum and dad,
00:20:03
Speaker
and you get pulled into an office from someone that you really trust in the business and have a conversation like that, it must have been a huge shock and then an incredibly difficult pill to swallow from there. And I think that as women, I don't wanna generalize, but a lot of the time as women, if we're not across the financial side of the business and we're not checking in on the financials every month and being a real part of that process,
00:20:31
Speaker
we are very susceptible to either being taken advantage of, whether there's as good intent or bad intent, we're taken advantage of, and we're ultimately the ones that are financially responsible a lot of the time to pick up those pieces. So it's a really good reminder. If you're listening to this right now, really remember that you need to be looking at your financials
00:20:53
Speaker
every single month without fail. And if you don't feel comfortable reading your financial statements or you don't know how to read your financial statements, find someone that you trust that can give you that support and give you that grounding because it's the best thing that you ever do to empower yourself with that responsibility and that discipline every month.
00:21:12
Speaker
And I know with you, obviously, you know, this is a slightly different story because you were going through a divorce and a separation at that time. And as I remember it, it was very much positioned as, you know, you take time off and you take six months to be with your family. And again, whether there was good intent or bad intent behind that, you'll probably never know. But ultimately, you probably thought amazing. You know, I can just take a step back, be with my family and focus on on my family and getting things back together again.
00:21:41
Speaker
not realizing what was going on right underneath your nose. You know, as much as you trust people in positions, you still have the innate responsibility to, you know, keep an eye on those sorts of things. So it's something that I do religiously now. Keep your finger on the pulse. You have to have, you know, obviously I love the product development kind of things, but it's so important to have your finger
00:22:03
Speaker
across everything. The top level things about marketing, the top level things to know about regulatory things. So you've got to have a vast knowledge to be able to understand what's going on in every single aspect of your business. A hundred percent. And I say this to clients quite often. I think a lot of business owners feel like they have to be an expert at everything.
00:22:24
Speaker
You don't necessarily have to be an expert in everything, but I always say you have to know what good and bad looks like. Because if you don't know what good and bad looks like, then you can be taken advantage of because you could be presented with results or you could review results. And if you don't know if they're good or bad and you just see numbers on a page, you're not going to be able to make any decision from there as to whether things are on track or off track.
00:22:47
Speaker
Yeah, you have to have your finger on the pulse. So other than the challenges that you went through at that time, what was your North Star? What was your guiding light during that time? And how did you get through those six years? I guess when I was
00:23:02
Speaker
I was put into a position where I knew that I couldn't get out, that I had to just forge forward. And in retrospect, looking back now, it's probably the best thing that ever happened to me. That period whilst it was very emotionally stressful at the time, I look back now and I see that it gave me a strength that I never knew I had. It was through that trauma that kind of roughed me up to be much stronger in the business.
00:23:30
Speaker
That's such an amazing way to frame it as well. And I think there's so much power in that when you're not looking at a situation and being on the effect side of the equation. So in cause and effect, being at cause means that you're not blaming its external factors. You're looking at your involvement in the situation and what things you can control and you're being at cause and you're taking any of those learnings that you've had in a difficult situation with you moving forward.
00:23:58
Speaker
And I think just understanding that one principle of cause and effect, which I know you understand obviously have displayed in this situation, that can change your whole life. If you are the type of person where you often have blamed others or blame situations or place the blame externally anywhere,
00:24:15
Speaker
outside of self, to have the realization that we do as individuals have a lot more power and control than sometimes we allow ourselves to have is an incredible realization and so, so powerful. And it sounds like you were essentially backed into a corner. You knew that you couldn't go. You didn't have any other option except to move forward. Because again, as a parent and someone who was supporting three children, I'm sure you were thinking at that time as well, if it's to be, it's up to me, I have to do this.
00:24:44
Speaker
Yeah. And saying that I was put into a position, if it's not necessarily I was put into position, I allowed myself to be put into position because I should have looked at my financials, known exactly what, you know, it doesn't take long to run your eyes over your profit and loss to see where things are standing. So that was my fault, but it was a very big lesson. That's so incredible that you've had those realizations and you're now able to bring that forward.
00:25:07
Speaker
Obviously, six years went by, you have now got one major shareholder, one shareholder that you align with in the business that you're able to work with really comfortably.
00:25:18
Speaker
What's happened since then? How has the journey changed since the shareholders have moved out and you've obviously stepped into this new chapter? And I'm interested to explore as well with the pandemic and everything that happened around that time. What happened for you in the business during those years where we saw this e-com explosion happen whilst all of the bricks and mortar shopping was closed down?
00:25:39
Speaker
Well, just going back to kind of what happened initially when I brought them out, it was kind of getting everything back in order again. And that's obviously when you came on board and there was so much to work through. There was the rebrand, there was a paid rationalization. But that was huge. And you were a part of that and what was involved. And then we kind of got the businesses into a really strong financial position again, and then COVID hit.
Shift from B2B to B2C
00:26:05
Speaker
That would have been just before COVID hit because to give a little bit of context to this, the listeners, 2016 to mid-2019 was my general management era at Vanity. As Tanya was saying, we did a number of different things over that time, including a range rationalisation, a rebrand from the original branding to their current branding in one way, shape or another.
00:26:28
Speaker
and obviously made some changes as well with the strategy because when I came on board in 2016, the business was very much B2B at that time. And I know, Tanya, one of the big requests from you when I came on board was to really expand the B2C side of the business and to get on the bandwagon because we definitely were a little bit late to market with
00:26:51
Speaker
moving online. Obviously the business has caught up now but that was a really big priority for us wasn't it back then to get the rebrand done, range rationalise but then also get going on the B2C side. Yeah and that took off very quickly. There was a lot of effort especially on your part you know getting the direct consumer up and running and now it's the strongest part of business.
00:27:14
Speaker
We had a lot of fun doing it. It was lots of tears, but I often say this as well, and I've said it many times to clients and just to other people in my network when we've been talking about, you know, whether it's a transformational business case or whether it's a startup or anything else, building a brand or rebuilding a brand takes three years, three to five years minimum. It's not an overnight journey. And I think I said this too many times as well during the process that we really have to stick to our guns, even when you feel like you might be spinning your wheels and nothing's happening.
00:27:43
Speaker
It is happening, but it's just one of those situations. It's like building a house. You build one brick at a time. You can't go from one layer of bricks immediately to decorating the house. That process takes time and it is a journey. So I know you understand what I mean when I say it was blood, sweat and tears because you were there as well. But for listeners that maybe are in a situation where
00:28:06
Speaker
They're either doing a rebuild and they might identify with being in a situation that you were once in and they're having to rebuild the brand or they've got a startup brand and they're building from scratch. What's your advice to them on how to remain resilient and keep going? What do you put it down to?
Building Resilience in Business
00:28:24
Speaker
I think, you know, the rebuild or starting, it's really important to build those foundations and anyone who's going to succeed in life or in business, there has to be that tenacity, there has to be a resilience. You know, I've found things like meditation and that has really helped me get through any tough times, but just at the 11th hour when you're ready to give up, if you just push through, it's happened time and time again for me over the 20 years and
00:28:51
Speaker
just proves to me that you just have to keep going. You have to keep pushing through. 100% spoken like the true visionary that you are, by the way. But I agree. And I think this is why every business needs a visionary. And if you are the visionary in your business, you need to fully embrace that and be that. Because if you're not driving the vision of the business, there's no one in the business that can replace the visionary.
00:29:17
Speaker
You are the lifeblood. So I think really remaining true to that character and that value that you add. And I know, you know, when I think about you in your business, I think about someone who is the inspiration and the motivation to the team generally, because you're just
00:29:34
Speaker
a real life walking earth angel. But then beyond that, you've got so much passion. I still remember you coming into the office and being like, oh, I've been up since 3am because I had this brainwave idea and I just had to research all night to find out more about this ingredient or this technology.
00:29:53
Speaker
happens consistently. And I think that's so incredible though, because if you weren't doing those things and you weren't having all of these brainwave ideas about trends, about ingredients, about technology, then you wouldn't be able to bring all these amazing products to life and to take them to market for your amazing and loyal community to enjoy, but also to set the pace as well for other brands in the industry.
00:30:17
Speaker
I've just have over the years learnt to trust what my gut tells me because it's always right and even when other people have said I don't think that will work, it always comes and proves to me that I've done the right thing.
00:30:30
Speaker
I think as well for you, what's amazing is you are a diehard tanner. Like of all the people I've ever met that love tanning, you are religiously tanned. And I think I can remember one year, I can't recall exactly where we were traveling. It was myself, you and Donna, your beautiful sister. And we were joking and had said to you, Tanya, we'll shout you an interstate trip, flights, accommodation, everything paid for, but you can't spray tan for two weeks.
00:30:58
Speaker
Do you remember that? Oh, I think it was one month, which was even worse. I still remember it to this day and I chuckle to myself every now and then when I think of it, you just love tanning. And I think this is so important because there's no one closer to your brand than you. You use the products religiously, you tan religiously. So for you, you really understand the problems that the consumer is facing because you're right there with them. And I think that's also
00:31:25
Speaker
another reason why you've been able to take so many amazing products to market over the years. When you think about just changing pace now and thinking about your most incredible achievements, if you had to narrow down to three most proud moments for you over your journey so far, your 19 years in the vanity business,
00:31:45
Speaker
What three moments really stand out to you? The first one would probably be when we hit the milestone within that first 12 months, reaching a million dollars in sales. It just blew me away. We were working really hard and then just to see those figures, it was a pinch me moment for sure.
00:32:02
Speaker
The second one would have to be, I remember vividly getting a phone call from Kylie Minogue's personal stylist. And, you know, I was a huge fan of her when I was a teenager and she said that she'd used our products on her and that Kylie wants us to send some product. I was like very excited about that. So that was another defining moment.
Celebrity Endorsements and Recognition
00:32:22
Speaker
And the third, look, I get little glimpses all the time, just, you know, heartfelt emails for clients. Like receiving the feedback would have to be
00:32:32
Speaker
the best hat on the back, the best reward that I could ever receive. That would be my three big ones. I'm sure there's been so many. That's why I framed it with, I'm sure this is going to be so hard to choose because even in my era, we had so much fun. It was just one of the best seasons of my life being at Vanity and being in the business with everyone. I can imagine it would be hard to narrow down to three.
00:32:57
Speaker
With number two, though, speaking about Kylie Minogue, it's just reminded me about the celebrity aspect of the brand. And I think this is really interesting because a lot of people may not realize that the brand has had lots of celebrity following over the years and different celebs, different news presenters. Can you explain to listeners just a little bit more around the celebrity aspect and how you've built these relationships as well with lots of incredible makeup artists and TV presenters?
00:33:27
Speaker
We work with a lot of people around the world who use our product and then they spray tan stars. We're an official tan for Channel 9 on a lot of TV shows like Dancing with Stars, Love Island, you name it. But the biggest thing I think is, especially in the US, we have a lot of celebrities that purchase that product online, then they pay normal price for it. That's a really good endorsement.
00:33:53
Speaker
have never bought a celebrity's following or love for our brand. They've either used it through a stylist or heard about it and then purchased it themselves. So I think that's probably one of the biggest things along with the awards and things like that that we've also won.
00:34:07
Speaker
Amazing. Okay. So to wrap things up, thank you so much for being on the show. I want to leave listeners with a little golden nugget from you or tips. Can you share that you've learned over your journey in all of the challenges that you face, all of the wins that you've succeeded with? What would you say is your message that you want to share to other business owners?
00:34:30
Speaker
Definitely trust your gut instinct. It never proves you wrong. Follow your heart, follow your passion. I think if you can do something that you love, it's never work and money always flows along with that passion. And the other thing I'd probably say is no matter what you're facing, just remember the universe has your back. You always get through it, even as hard as it is at the time, you've just got to push through.
00:34:56
Speaker
When you think about the next 12 months, what's on the cards for vanity? What's coming up in this next 12 months? Are you working on anything exciting? I think you mentioned before you've got a new range coming out. We've got a new range coming out. We're launching in about a week's time a new new hair care range, which is predominantly focused on hair growth and hair health. So lots of innovative ingredients in that. And it's probably the entire team's most favorite product launched to date. They're all like madly in love with it. So we're super excited about that.
00:35:26
Speaker
And we're also about to launch our complete rebrand. So, you know, that was back in 2017. I did one with you. So we've done a completely new rebrand. It's very fresh and chic and super excited about that.
00:35:42
Speaker
So exciting. I can't wait to see. I haven't seen any sneak peeks of haircare, so I'm very excited. All the rebrand, so I'm very excited to see what you're going to unveil in the next week or so. For listeners that want to go and check out Vanity, highly recommend. My personal favorite product is the Velocity Spray Tan. I have trained my husband, George, bless him,
00:36:04
Speaker
to give me a spray tan with a machine that I bought when I was at Vanity and I absolutely swear by the Vanity Velocity spray tanning solution. So definitely check that out. The other product that I love is of course the Powder Foundation, which you could say is quite possibly the Holy Grail in that range. So they are my true picks if you want to go and suss out the range.
00:36:24
Speaker
You can check out Vanity Products by heading to www.vanity.com and that is spelled V-A-N-I dash T dot com and you can go and check out all of their amazing products there. Find out a little bit more about Tenure Story and all of the amazing products that they have available.
00:36:45
Speaker
Thank you so, so much again for being on the show, for being open and vulnerable in sharing some of the challenges that you face in your journey. I'm so excited for this episode to air and for so many business owners to benefit from the messages that you have to share from all of the things that you faced in your business journey. So thank you again, and I can't wait to catch up with you soon. It's my pleasure and honor to be sharing this with you.
00:37:12
Speaker
Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. If you love today's show, be sure to let me know by leaving a five-star review. You can also connect with me via Instagram at OliviaJenkins.co or learn more on how we can work together at www.OliviaJenkins.co. Have an amazing week and I can't wait to connect with you in the next episode.