Kitchen-to-Global Brand: Lhamour's Journey That Changed Mongolia Forever

0:00We are a nomadic herding culture, so we have all this livestock. and I was like, why has nobody ever done this? It's like the most obvious thing to literally do out of Mongolia. So I changed my whole profession and became an organic skincare formulator. Hey, what's up everyone? It's your host, Shuang Esther Shan, with a brand new episode of Shopify Masters, your companion for starting and scaling a business. One founder's journey can heal an entire community. Today, I'm joined by Mongolia's most successful skincare founder, Hulan Devadorch. She created L 'Amour in 2014 when she couldn't find the skincare her eczema so desperately needed.

0:43L 'Amour became Mongolia's first organic skincare brand, transforming the lives of local herders, creating dozens of jobs, and showcasing the country beyond cashmere and mining. Her products reached across the continents to soothe dry skin, all while inspiring the next generation of business owners. Hulan, it's a pleasure to have you on the show. Thank you so much for having me. It's so great to have you, Hulan. The beginning of L 'Amour all started when you were looking after your own skin, having eczema. You started to notice that Mongolia had very special ingredients. What was the process like testing some of the formulas in your own kitchen?

1:26Yes. So I went back to Mongolia around 12 years ago and I was going to work for the first wind farm company. And I think because I grew up in Europe and then I was in New York during my master's, when I went back to Mongolia, it was a lot of environmental change for me. So my body was literally reacting to that. And I started having eczema and allergy for the first time in my life. And that was kind of the initial start of becoming very passionate about the skin and health in general, because I needed to fix my own problems. And at that time, the doctors were advising me to use very mild natural skincare, which I couldn't really find.

2:15And I was wondering why nobody in Mongolia has ever done it, because Mongolia is just so vast for the people that are listening that have no idea about Mongolia. You can imagine it being five times bigger than Germany, but literally only having 3.6 million people. So you can imagine the vast nature. You have places that nobody has been to. So we have all these amazing ingredients literally at our convenience. it's just right there. So we have sea buckthorn, rose, nettle. I mean, we are a nomadic herding culture. So we have all this livestock. And I was like, why has nobody ever done this? It's like the most obvious thing to literally do out of Mongolia.

3:01So I changed my whole profession and became an organic skincare formulator and started just testing out things in the kitchen. I literally just went to the market, got a little bit of ingredients and I started testing it out. And it was amazing for me. So I felt if it is amazing for me, then there should be definitely one other person that will like it as well. And that was kind of the starting point. So I just left my job and started testing out everything. And I was, I think, around eight months doing everything in my kitchen. yeah it's an incredible journey of also just reconnecting with your roots after spending time in europe and america while you were testing things in your own kitchen for those eight months what were some surprising lessons you've learned throughout formulation well obviously um because everything was new to me and because i was like studying myself it was kind of like learning as I'm doing it.

4:02So while I was doing the academic part, I was literally testing that out. And I think it was just really awesome to see how also difficult it is, you know, with organic skincare, because nowadays, I mean, there's a huge trend in organic and natural skincare. And a lot of people think it's actually much more easier because you just do some stuff in the kitchen, but it's actually a lot more difficult. So that's why the mainstream synthetic skincare, for example, if you would buy one, it's still going to last, let's say after two years, it has the same color and the same scent. But then if you actually have natural skincare, it's just like food, it's like fresh food for your skin.

4:44So it's actually way more challenging and difficult. So yeah, it was crazy. I was literally making soaps at home and it was just like exploding and going all bad and I had to redo it. So at one point I was not eating in the kitchen anymore. It was just literally like a bombarded test out place. And I think that was pretty interesting. I'm sure definitely the process was also rewarding because you had your own skin concerns, eczema. So seeing the formulations you were making work on your own skin was really motivating to keep going. How did you then turn those products into an actual business? So I started off with asking on my own social media if people want to try it because I've been trying it and it was really good.

5:32And people on my social media, like friends and family, they're like, sure. They're like wondering what I was doing in general. So they're like, sure, why don't we try it out? And then because our products are formulated for people with sensitive skin, dry skin and eczema and allergy, it was actually very good also for people with normal skin. So once kind of people really liked it, they gave me feedback. I was like, okay, fine. We can now finalize it into an actual product. So that's how after eight months being at home, I started having my own little production room and a small office and officially like launched as like, you know, a company.

6:16And then getting the first customer, getting that first person who's not family and friends to buy your product is the toughest part for a lot of founders. What were you doing to get the word out there for it, Lamor? Social media has been a vital part of our journey because literally it's for free. So Instagram was just kind of starting off at that time, becoming very popular. Mongolians use Facebook. So I was just posting every single day in a like friend way, I would say like, hey guys, so this is now what I just finished. And hey, I'm like, you know, buying the ingredients or hey, I'm like working on the branding, etc.

7:01So people came along with me on this journey. So So through social media, we were able to quickly expand and actually get those non-family customers. And I think social media in general has been such an important part for our journey, especially for entrepreneurs who don't have a marketing budget. Social media is amazing. Yeah, definitely. And also what's incredible is that you've kept all production, formulation, shipping fulfillment in-house. What was behind this decision? And also, how did you scale up with keeping everything in-house? We do everything in-house from raw material processing to end product, which for our customers is very important because it ensures that we control the quality.

7:54So because everything is ours, like our formulation is ours, we have our own patents, etc. It's just very important to kind of control this. On the other hand, as a company for myself, I just felt that it was amazing to see the journey of our own staff members, of our own employees. So in our production right now, we have 10 amazing women. And it was just incredible to see how they have been with me for these 10 years and to see their development, to see, you know, them working with us as one, you know. So we're like kind of family now. And I think it was so important to have this opportunity for these women to have this employment because it's just, especially in a developing country, it's very important for a woman to have their own financial independence, I feel like.

8:51So especially in a family of many people, for example, we have many people in a family. It's very important for me to have these women financially independent. So that's why I felt, okay, we will keep it handmade for sure. And we will definitely keep it in-house. I don't want to, like, even though we get bigger, I don't want to have it to outsource. So the more bigger we get, the more success we have, the more we can employ people. And I think that has been very important for me as an employer as well. And on top of the amazing women that work with you, you also help the livelihoods of so many nomadic herders who help to supply the seed buckthorn, rosehip, and other ingredients.

9:36How has the process been like developing those relationships? The process of like working together with the suppliers has been honestly the most challenging aspect of our whole business. Just thinking about that we've been existing for 10 years and having to literally change a whole country was amazing on one hand, but then very difficult on the other hand, because we just have this amazing nomadic lifestyle. And you have to think about that these people literally, you know, don't live in the city, so they don't have what we have and they don't have the same mindset. And like, let's say doing business is a totally different concept.

10:13So we had to literally work with them, like taking their hands, you know, making sure they have their little finance booklets and stuff like that. So it was not really like Lamour, to be honest, wasn't really just one company. It was literally like a whole ecosystem. So we have more than 70 suppliers, mostly from Mongolia, but we have also a lot of suppliers from all around the world. and it was just this whole process of hand in hand working together and growing together and yeah that has been I mean very challenging as I mentioned before you know working with synthetic ingredients is much easier because it's very stable but then literally having to work with all these suppliers from like all around the country and then having this organic ingredients and making sure they are stable that we have good logistics etc etc.

11:12Yeah, it was very challenging, to be honest. But I think it was very fulfilling, because just the fact that, let's say we have, you know, yaks milk and goats milk, and these nomadic people, they have never used the actual, like, let's say, yaks milk for additional income, because they use other parts. It was very amazing to see that we could be an accelerator towards their, you know, additional financial, more revenue for their families. So I think that was pretty cool. And again, as I mentioned, because we are the end product manufacturer, the more success we have, we're literally taking along all these, you know, companies and people with us.

11:56So I think it gives us a lot of responsibility, but it's also very, very amazing just to see the whole journey. Yeah, you are, in a sense, stimulating the economy in your own way. And it's very incredible to see. And I know that a lot of founders are trying to build out their own supply chain and understand and at least like take ownership of how different supplies get to them. What would be your advice to help them smooth out that process a little bit, have better ways to quality control and things like that? I mean, our journey has been very, I guess, different because of the whole ecosystem in Mongolia, because it wasn't there.

12:38I mean, we couldn't like readily outsource and stuff like that. So I think it really depends on like, what do you want and what is your opportunity? So, I mean, if you were, let's say, a US-based company, I think outsourcing would make sense because so many companies have done it before. They have the experience, they have the means, and it's just about you kind of putting it together. So I think it really depends on what is important to you, what is your vision, and what is your unique selling point. So our unique selling point is really this whole process that we control because we are Mongolian brands.

13:21But then again, whatever is important to you, just think about whatever is important to you. Because you work with so many nomadic herders who might have not had experiences selling the different raw materials, where were some of the early conversations like negotiating with them? Even not in the early days, I think not even now it's very difficult because again, their way of understanding things is very different. I mean, if all day long you just literally work with your cattle and then work with nature, it's like you don't really have that same sense. So sometimes we get huge price fluctuations.

14:04Literally, sometimes they're not even there. They like just go and have some family gatherings and just disappear for a week and we cannot get her raw material. So it was crazy, to be honest, like the whole journey of trying to make it work and trying to work together and really trying to keep it sustainable and really making sure that they supply us on a constant, sustainable basis was just really, really tough. So again, I think it's all about open communication, very honest, authentic communication. And the moment your business partner, supplier, or even your employees understand that you're very honest and authentic about what you're trying to do.

14:48And it's not just you trying to, you know, buy something and use it, but it's about you trying to also work together with them in order to grow so that everybody's happy. After all, I think once they kind of understand that honest way of communication, it makes it much more easier to keep it like a long-term relationship. And when you were building Lemoore, these are new frontiers that no one has done before and building the brand that was like first of its kind. Who did you turn to to look for advice or kind of model after a mentor? Because I imagine this is like such a unique journey. It was very tough.

15:32And I think every entrepreneur would kind of agree that this whole journey of just like trying to figure things out is really all on you. You know, it's like you cannot, I mean, maybe here in the States, it's much more better. You have like mentors, you can actually ask people that have already done it before. But honestly, it was a very kind of like, yeah, crazy, lonely journey. But I think I did a lot of reading. So especially from international companies, you know, like reading stories about other entrepreneurs has really helped me. So I think, again, using this like social media platform, following people that have already done it, like founders, and just reading about entrepreneurship in general was like making me a bit more calm because otherwise the daily aspect was just very crazy.

16:23You know, it's like you never know what's going to happen. And there are things that you think you can never solve. But then tomorrow you actually solved it. And then another big challenge comes up. So I think, yeah, entrepreneurship in general is really lonely. But then again, I mean, it's very rewarding to really just see challenges as like a task that you have to fulfill in order to go to the next level. So that's how I kind of started approaching it. I just see whatever challenge comes up and whatever difficulty we have to overcome, I just see it as another task I have to fulfill in order to go to the next level.

17:04And it's never ending. But once you see maybe after a year what you have already accomplished, I think that's the most amazing part of entrepreneurship itself. For sure. And I like the fact that you turn to books and also other entrepreneurs as inspiration. So where were some of the entrepreneurs or books that have really helped to maintain your optimism and gave you a sense of inspiration while you were building this business? Yes. Besides always reading articles on Forbes and entrepreneur.com, et cetera, one of the books that really aligned with my values and I think made me understand that through business, you can also just along the way, create happiness for your employees, for customers, for everybody around you.

17:54It was the book by the founder, Tony C, I think. And it was delivering happiness. So I think that book really showed how business can also be so impactful and in such easy ways. And I think after reading that book, I was like, okay, that's what I want to do, especially with my team, because you spend most of your time at work. We are still in office, so we don't do remote. So that's why adult life is mostly in the office. So we want to create something that really makes them happy, proud, fulfilled on a daily basis. And obviously through the products, because it's handmade with love, really also share this happiness to the customer.

18:38So I think that book was really impactful. Definitely, there's so much hard work that goes behind the scenes of a milestone, but you have accomplished so much with L 'Amour. Share some of the milestones you've reached with the brand in Mongolia and Asia. Yes. So in Mongolia, we've been now existing since 10 years and we have our own four flagship stores. We have a team of around 30 people. and yeah we in Mongolia I think we kind of reached the ceiling in terms of what we want to do because it was very clear from day one that I want to create a global brand just because first of all the Mongolian ingredients are just amazing and second of all I mean eczema, allergy, dry sensitive skin is becoming a global problem everybody like even if you live in a humid country let's say it's just something that's happening because of a lot of the, you know, external factors.

19:36So I think our products are not just like cosmetic products per se, it's more of health products that really help people. So I really wanted to create a global brand. So we've launched now in the US, we have a warehouse in LA, we launched, relaunched our website. We started now just, You know, being in pop-ups in Miami, we just launched the Miami Life Center. And through our website, we actually shipped to anywhere in the world. So I think with Asia, we got a lot of awards from Asia. But definitely, we see that a lot of our customers have been from North America. So I think it's a great kind of logical step to now be in little physical spaces so that people can see the products and try it out.

20:34But yeah, I mean, the products have been around for 10 years. They work. We got a lot of recognition. So definitely, I think it would be great now to expand to North America. It almost feels like this is like a whole new summit that you're climbing, a whole new chapter, bringing the company to North America. Through this part of the journey, what has been surprising to you building up this launch in North America? So we don't really do e-commerce in Mongolia because we have our own stores. So people actually come to the stores like tourists, they come to our production site and they can see it.

21:13So we don't really utilize e-commerce that much. but definitely e-commerce in the states is so huge and it's I mean the main thing to reach the customers so for me it was a whole different journey of you know understanding e-commerce understanding I mean even Shopify it was I thought it was pretty amazing to kind of just figure out Shopify figuring out the ads working with Klaviyo and just really trying to reach somebody that has never heard about us ever in their whole life. So I think that has been such a huge challenge as well, but definitely we're getting there and we're getting a lot of traction.

21:57We were just also on a newspaper in Canada and we were on different kind of platforms. So definitely I was on different kind of podcasts. I think just talking about the importance of natural skincare and talking about the importance of using natural products has been also very important together with the e-commerce. So the educational parts and the e-commerce kind of go together, which for me was very new, but it's very interesting. And I kind of love the whole new challenge that's coming up. Yeah. And I love that you are just so excited and positive about this new challenge because the more so developed you have so many skews there's i believe over 70 different products how are you thinking about the product lineup when you're entering north america are you adjusting the way that you're marketing products showing the products online how are you thinking about the different skews now so i just um like decreased my whole um line in the states just because again, in Mongolia, we're kind of like body shop, let's say it's like huge.

23:10We have like different kind of stores, et cetera. But here, because nobody has ever heard about us, it's quite difficult to have the whole line. So currently I'm just concentrating on our best seller, which is our facial oil, Roseb facial oil that has Roseb and sea buckthorn together and other ingredients as well. So I think with the e-commerce, it's really important to just concentrate on a specific product, getting that out to your specific avatar and then really with a specific unique selling point. So that's also something that has been quite mind blowing for me because I just need to concentrate on one thing, but that has been working.

23:55So the rose of facial oil is definitely something that I want to concentrate on, which I'm doing. And yeah, actually today in the morning, I got a five-star review from one of our customers that ordered the product last week. So that was two weeks ago. So that was pretty amazing. Yeah. And it's also probably really rewarding to see the live feedback as they come in, which I'm sure it helps you to learn more about customers and think about them when you're doing research and development. How are you kind of balancing the feedback, thinking about loyalty and retention when you're also trying to innovate for new products down the line?

24:37So especially a lot of the products that have been existing for many years, a lot of people from all around the world tried it, let's say with the World Certification Oil. So we know exactly what are the key benefits, how does it work, and whether people are going to like it or not. And that has been, I think, crucial for us, even though, let's say, for North America, we're kind of like a startup starting from zero. Because we know the product works, it has been of advantage. So we know exactly how to position it and how to sell it. But again, And getting the feedback from especially U.S. customers has been very vital for us because, again, I mean, Asia, U.S., it's very different.

25:23People's skin is very different. So now having this feedback is amazing for us to also think about what we could advance, you know, what we could develop for North America. And I think Shopify has been amazing in terms of just getting all the feedback. working together with the customers. It's so easy, I mean, to talk to the customer, to get their feedback with different kind of service providers and doing all the welcome series and the pop-ups and everything has been very interesting and doing all the checkout abandonment and all these things, you know. So yeah, I think we're going to now, once we have a good base of first customers, then start to create like loyalty programs, you know, coming up with like different programs to just keep our customers happy.

26:21Yeah, that's the basis for so many different areas of growth. I know that you mentioned, you know, building with Shopify, using Klaviyo. Those are some of the tools that have helped you enter into North America. Are there any other apps or services or tools that have helped you in this journey as well? I think, again, social media has been really big because for entrepreneurs that don't really have huge marketing budget, social media has always been so helpful. So we use Instagram a lot. We're now starting with TikTok and just my personal also Instagram, because again, organic skincare, natural skincare is also very new to a lot of people, especially a lot of people that, for example, have health issues, really start exploring natural skincare.

27:13So they don't know the benefits, but they have to, for example, use it. So social media has been a vital part of just educating the customer, really getting the word out without having to have a big marketing budget. So I think that was really good. Also for the Shopify, one of the platforms that we're now testing out is the upsell services. So definitely with us, because we have body care, face care, hair care, baby care, it's yeah, a lot of the products, they go amazingly together. And if the mom uses it, then the baby should also use it. And it's kind of like for the whole family. So I think this upsell bundling services are also very important for us.

28:02So because L 'Amour is a all-natural organic skincare, there's also a lot of complexities as you're expanding internationally with shelf life and making everything in-house in Mongolia and shipping it to your warehouse in North America. How are you overcoming some of these hurdles? The shelf life, I mean, for our products is usually one to two years. So that's kind of doable. We do use preservatives, which are from radish roots, and they are one of the only preservatives that are natural. And I mean, it's always quite challenging with natural products just because it can go bad, even if it doesn't go bad by itself.

28:46If the customers leaves it, for example, in a very hot, humid place, it can definitely change just because it's all organic. So that has been definitely quite a challenge. We now have a warehouse in LA, so we do not send out too many products. We send it out on a regular basis, smaller batches, just to ensure that the product that the customer is getting is, you know, one of the freshest batches. It's something to really figure out along the way, which we're doing. We had a lot of problems with our previous warehouse, so we had to change warehouses, which has been, you know, very challenging. But I think we're getting there.

29:27And it's, again, entrepreneurship is always about, you know, learning and figuring out your challenges and difficulties and really figuring out ways to kind of change it and moving super fast. So definitely challenging. I would not like want to lie about how easy it is because it's super difficult, but we're getting there. And I know that like expanding, investing in inventory in different countries that comes with also building good financial foundations. What is your advice for founders who are building a company where they have to keep the finances in mind as they're trying to scale and expand?

30:09With us, we are definitely taking it slow. I was thinking about scaling really fast, but I realized, I mean, reality hits hard. I realized that there is a lot of foundational work to be done, especially with our expansion in North America. So currently, I'm taking it kind of slower. I'm reminding myself that we're already on a good track, but we need to have the fundamentals working because otherwise, I mean, we could have thousands of orders and if we cannot fulfill it, then, you know, it's going to be quite a disaster. So for now, I'm definitely taking it slow. I'm really building on the foundation, having you know all the logistics in space in place and really figuring that part out and then I think once the foundation is laid out really well it's really just about marketing and I think for the marketing once your foundation is well it's really easy to scale up so I think make sure that your foundations are really like well established so that scaling will be much easier Yeah.

31:19And at what stage do you think yourself or other founders should think about getting outside funding or thinking about leveraging investments to help them in the scaling process? us? I think it really depends on the type of business and also where you see yourself. So with me, again, currently in Mongolia, let's say we never had really funding because it all grew by itself because the products were so unique and the business was so unique. So we literally were able to grow through our own sales. And again, I think that has also, I mean, on one hand been amazing. But then on the other hand, I'm thinking, is that really the way forward?