From Kitchen Counter to Multi-Million Dollar Company: Thrive Causemetics Founder Karissa Bodnar Shares Her Story: The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 188
“I believe that when we are confident, we are unstoppable.”
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I’m in love with this brand and this entrepreneur’s story and you’re about to be too! If you’re thinking of starting something to have a massive reach and impact, you’re going to want to take notes because we have Karissa Bodnar, owner of Thrive Causemetics giving away all the inside scoop into how she grew her business from zero to what it is today. She seriously held nothing back and we go into everything!
**BONUS** As a special bonus for my listeners, we have arranged another AMAZING giveaway for you! In celebration of today’s interview with Thrive Causemetics founder Karissa Bodnar, we are surprising one lucky winner with an assortment of Thrive’s BEST products! Head over to Instagram (@beautyandthevlog) to enter by July 21, 2019.
Karissa and Thrive Causemetics has received accolades like the “Fastest-growing vegan beauty company”, “Forbes 30 under 30 for 2019” and INC magazine’s “Badass Female Founders”, but before all that Karissa grew up on a farm in Washington State. She loved creating makeup from roses from her mom’s garden and crayons. Since then she has been deep into all things makeup: working as a makeup artist at Sephora during college, working at Clarisonic after college and in L’oreal’s luxury division after they acquired Clarisonic. But when she hit a brick wall after losing her friend to cancer at 24, she came to the realization that she had to stop waiting and finally build the beauty company of her dreams. She was passionate about doing more than just selling beauty products but empowering women as well. And a month later she started Thrive Causemetics on her kitchen counter.
“If our product wasn’t great, people would not buy it.”
She funded it all herself, making product formulas on her kitchen counter and fulfilling all the orders out of her 1-bedroom apartment. As she grew, she reached out to people for help, and along the way she captured the hearts of her amazing customers and their word of mouth on social media moved the needle for her. She went from making a thousand dollars a day in sales to hundreds of thousands of dollars a day in sales, in just a few days, and kept growing from there. A part of why it’s called ‘causemetics’ is because she donates her profits to a lot of charities who help women re-enter the workforce, deal with abuse, recover from cancer and even more – they keep adding more and more women groups in need. You’re going to learn in-depth the different stages of her journey and how she was able to get through each stage to where her company is today. Enjoy!
“When you realise that the worst that can happen really isn’t that bad, you’re unstoppable.”
5 Key Interview Takeaways
- If not now, then when? Now is the right time to start! The industry might be more saturated later, the longer you wait, the harder it will be. Always. If you’re wondering if you should jump in or not, make a list. Weigh the pros and cons. What amazing things can happen if you start and keep going? What will you learn? Who could you end up meeting? Where could you end up going? And, what’s the worst that can happen? You’ll realise that the pros win, so just jump in.
- Start with what you know. Learn everything else. Not sure where to start? What are you good at? What are you a natural at? You don’t need to know how to edit, you don’t need to know how to grow, you just need to know enough about your passion. Start creating content around that, start building a business around that. You’ll learn everything else as you grow. You’ll meet mentors. You’ll read books. You’ll go to events. But it all starts with maximizing on what you know.
- Start with why. What is your passion? Where does it come from – what’s at the core? If you create from that place, you can’t go wrong. People will see that why like a beacon and be drawn to it. You’ll enrich your content with it and it will erupt like a volcano.
- It’s not about follower count, it’s about engagement. If you’re working to become an influencer, forget about follower count. Focus on making every interaction with your audience something memorable. It won’t work all the time, but with that intention set, you’ll hit the mark more than you miss it, and your audience will respect you for it. They’ll fill your comments section and tell all their friends about it. And when brands come knocking at your door, you’ll deserve it.
- Don’t be too shy to ask questions. The world is built by the connections we make. You won’t have all the answers, and people are a lot more willing to help you up than you think. So if you’re shy to DM that influencer or ask that expert your burning questions, don’t be. The help they can give you can take you so far, and they may even be invested long-term in your success. Go for it!
Resources
My favorite free SEO tool for YouTube: TubeBuddy
(Discount code ErikasBuddy for 20% off the paid version)
PR Guide: How to Get onto PR Lists and Get Lots of Free Product
Getting Started on YouTube: The #1 Downloaded Free Niche Discovery Workbook
Connect with Karissa
Thrive Causemetics on Instagram
Thrive Causemetics on Facebook
Facebook Group:
Podcast Music Credit: Boop by x50 @x50music
Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/o52xQkQWzyU
