How Salish Matter Is Redefining Teen Skincare | Julia Straus, CEO of Sincerely Yours

0:00We're standing out, one, because we, again, our founder, our co-founder is the target audience. that there actually aren't that many teen brands founded by teens, believe it or not. And so Salish is truly behind every decision and so involved so that we know that the North Stars is authentic to our customer. Welcome to the Hot Start VC podcast, the show where we break down how celebrities and creators build billion dollar brands. Today, I'm joined by Julia Strauss, the co-founder and CEO of Sincerely Yours, the skincare brand she launched with 15-year-old creator Salish Matter and her dad Jordan Matter.

0:35The brand's debut made headlines after its American Dream Mall launch drew over 80 ,000 fans and shut down the mall. And it's continued to stand out by involving 60 ,000 teenagers in building the company. In this episode, we'll talk about how Sincerely Yours came to life, what it takes to launch at that scale, and how Julia is turning community into a core business advantage. So without further ado, let's get into the conversation. Julia, I'm excited to have you on the show. Thank you so much for being here. Happy to be here. Nice to see you. Yeah, likewise. So before we talk about Sincerely Yours, can we learn more about your background and your career leading up to this?

1:10Absolutely. No, happy to share. Maybe I'll start with my more recent gigs in consumer. I've been in consumer for a very long time, basically since business school. Kind of grew up in the D2C heyday of New York City. So, you know, back when it was Birchbox and Rent the Runway and all these brands that were just sort of discovering what it meant to sell directly to your consumer. and frankly, online. It was still very early. I'm going to sound very old when I talk about all this stuff. It was a really great way to sort of cut my teeth and understand, you know, truly what it means to be direct with your customer and sort of no middleman.

1:43And I just, I loved it. And then I had this opportunity to help start a company from scratch. I met the founders of Tula Skincare, which at the time was basically one SKU, no website. It was almost pre-launch and they were looking for someone to take the helm. I had zero beauty experience, had never run anything before, but they let me give it a shot. So I ran that company for about three and a half years. It was an incredible journey. Tula was sort of early to, again, sort of D to C first beauty and really had an incredible story with a gastroenterologist behind the science. So loved it. I would have, I always say it was like my first child, would have been probably still running it today.

2:23But my husband got in the way. He had sold his company to a company over in the UK. And so we needed to, for personal reasons, move over. So I ended up staying within the Catterton portfolio and took the helm at Sweaty Betty, which was a very different business in some sense, because it was 20 years old at that point, very scaled, you know, a number of stores all across the UK and some in the US. So very different journey. And of course, apparel is a completely different beast. But that was also incredibly rewarding and very similar to a tool in the sense we were very close to our community and our customer.

2:55And we ended up tripling that business, went global, ultimately sold the business to a strategic in the U.S., survived COVID and many other chapters in the middle of all that, but it was awesome. So that was sort of my two big chapters before coming back here to the U.S. and somehow finding myself at a startup again. I don't know. I said I'd never go back to the beginning, but here I am. Yeah. So let's talk about Sincerely Yours. Kay, Laura, tell us more about what is Sincerely Yours and can you also tell us more about the founding story and how it all came about? Absolutely. So Sincerely Yours is a new brand, our focus on serving a younger customer, so young adults, teens, and tweens with clean, safe skincare.

3:32We launched about eight weeks ago, so it is still, I mean, truly a baby brand, but we've had a really exciting ride so far. We're sold exclusively at Sephora, and then we're also sold on our website, Sincerely Yours.com. How did it all come about? So I, you know, from my side, I'd moved back to the U.S. I'd had my third kid. I was trying to figure out what's next, you know, doing all the soul searching, really wanted to get back into beauty and skincare. I think when you're out of this industry, it's really, it's interesting because you sort of, it's such a dynamic space and it moves so quickly, especially on the marketing side.

4:06I think having been in apparel, which is dynamic in a different way, I just really missed the innovation, the creativity you see within sort of personal care and beauty in particular. So I wanted to get back into it. And this is back in 2023. And really every third or fourth article you read was about the younger customer. It was a really interesting time. And it felt like there was sort of this explosion within the younger demo looking to be part of the category. And a lot of confusion and conflict in a way that was coming through in that. And oftentimes they were using products that really weren't meant for younger skin.

4:42From my side, I felt like there was a real problem potentially to be solved. and certainly a lane that felt like there was education needed. I reconnected with one of our investors in Sweaty Betty, and they were looking at this as well, looking at the same exact problem, the same exact dynamic. And they said, someone you need to meet, his name's Jordan Matter. I was like, cool, who's Jordan Matter? At the time, I was not as well-versed in YouTube world. And, you know, I just was kind of getting back into everything. And I got to meet Jordan Salish. and I spent a huge amount of time with both of them and was just blown away by the community that they've been building over the past, you know, five to 10 years.

5:22And, you know, from their side, what was really interesting is Salish at the time was 14. She's now almost 16. And every time she talked about this category with her audience, she saw the same exact both engagement as well as sort of confusion. So lots of excitement around skincare and beauty and sort of being in that, again, that sort of personal care space, but also a lot of questions. What is she using? I have sensitive skin. What should I use? I love this brand, but it's not made for me. Just a lot of confusion. So they kind of thought about doing something as well. Interestingly, they have not done many brand sort of projects.

5:57They don't do a lot of sponsored things within their channel. They'd really been focused on building their content in their community and waiting for the right time to bring a product forward that felt really authentic to Salish. And that timing was then. So that's how it all started. And gosh, it's been a wild ride since. But it really came out of the same shared, you know, I think, observation and personal experience around a gap in this catwalk. Yeah, it's funny because, like, I'm obviously knee deep into the celebrity and creator world. But I also didn't know who Salis and Jordan were until, like, I read about, like, hey, this 15-year-old creator is launching, like, a skincare company.

6:36So, yeah, I just think that it's a different target audience, obviously. But, yeah, they are massive. if they're some of the largest influences in the world. And to your point, Dev, never launched their own brand before or whatsoever. When you came up with kind of this category insight and you were thinking, hey, maybe I should launch a brand in this space. Did you already consider, hey, maybe I should find a celebrity or creator co-founder or was that not a thought at all? You know, I think, again, it all sort of came together literally within the same week. So I think we all were circling around the same problem.

7:09So in a way, it was 100 % part of the equation because the equation was really meeting someone else who had the shared sort of dream and vision. I think prior to meeting Jordan and Salish, I did feel very strongly, as did our third co-founder, Seth Rodsky from Strand, that I just couldn't imagine building something from the ground up and not having a creator community involved, especially when you're targeting a demographic that really relates to creators in a very organic and passionate way. So it almost felt like how could you start something without having that community built in from the get-go?

7:48And I've worked with creators in all different shapes and sizes through my career. And I just think it is – I don't think it's a part of marketing. I think it is marketing. And especially these days when it's hard to break through, traditional channels of marketing have become more and more crowded and expensive. And I think, you know, the world's a tough place and people are looking for storytelling and personal relationships because it can feel like everything's at the surface level. Finding, you know, working with someone who has, again, that trust and that deep connection that goes beyond just the like, hey, here's the thing I saw on my feed today.

8:24It just feels it just feels critical. So, yeah, I wouldn't be here if I wasn't working with them for sure. Yeah, that makes sense. I always say it's not the greater economy anymore, but it's just the economy in general. So the Daphne Alliance, like sincerely, yours is not the first like skincare brand that is focused on teens. Why do you think it really stands out from other brands in the category? Yeah, I think it's a huge category. So we're definitely believers that this isn't a one brand play by any means. But I think we're standing out one because we again are our founder, our co-founder is the target audience that there actually aren't that many teen brands founded by teens, believe it or not.

9:03And so Salish is truly behind every decision and so involved so that we know that the North Star is authentic to our customer. And then I think alongside that, we really made an effort to build with a group of teens and our community alongside us, which, by the way, is quite complex to do. There's one thing if you're going to do a focus group after you've built your product. It's another thing to say alongside, like as we're, you know, coming up with our packaging, we're going to ask 30 teenagers to, you know, opine and share their opinion. And, you know, it's a great process and it's been so, so helpful to help us feel like we're putting our voice in the room.

9:42But it's not for the faint of heart because it does mean that you're sort of adding a lot of input, you know. So I think those are the two things that we tried to do quite differently and really just listen to the customer first. And I'd say on top of that, and a lot of brands also follow this, but I think it's been really important to ensure that we balance that input with experts from the medical world to ensure that we're building something that's really safe and that parents can trust as well. So I think we've tried to build this right from the start, and hopefully that is why it's resonating.

10:13So what was our customer? Yeah, so at Hot Start 3C, whenever we invest in brands founded by celebrities and creators, we're always looking for that authentic creator product market fit. And like you already mentioned that like Salis, she is the target audience. She struggled with this problem. So she's kind of solving her own problem and she's also speaking to her audience. Like thousands of comments were always about, hey, what skincare are you using? And can you share it with us? So in that sense, it really fits. You also talked a little bit about the involvement already that she's really involved in product development and that type of stuff.

10:44But can you tap into that a little bit more? Like what does her involvement on a day-to-day, on a week-to-week basis look like? especially because I assume that she's still in high school or whatsoever. Oh my gosh. Yeah. She's still like, and I don't know how they do it, but you know, she has six days a week. She's just a normal team. You know, she goes to school, she has activities, she, she does sports. Um, and I think that's a really important part of her life and also really important reason why she continues to resonate with her audience because she is living a pretty relatable life. Right.

11:13So that's critically important, but yeah, you know, somehow we're squeezing in around that a very natural. and I'd say like fluid conversation with her, which is, you know, everything from packaging to products, testing, getting her insights on, you know, what she's loving on social, how would she think about, you know, tone of voice and merch, it's all of the above. Of course, it's not, you know, there's, we have a whole team and we're, you know, operating the business as needed. But I think what's been fun is, you know, almost replicating a bit of the way they run their content business, which again is a family business.

11:45It has a small team. They have to trust each other. They have to be able to work fluidly. And ultimately, the North Star for their content is Salish. You know, she is really able to say, here's what I think would work. Here's what I'm comfortable doing. Here's what I don't think it makes sense. And we sort of tried to take the same approach with Sincerely Yours. So it's not like we're sitting down every week and saying, here's our big board meeting. On the contrary, I think it's been something that we've had to sort of build organically as we go through. But it's been really, it's been great. She's dedicated so much time.

12:17And I think, you know, again, has a great instinct for this. I think in part because she spends a lot of her time listening to her audience. Yeah, I love that. And they also just add a different value, right? That no one else can add, especially when they're so young and have that kind of can-do spirit. They don't see the obstacles whatsoever. 100%. And actually, you know, one of the things that's been most exciting, I think, for the team and for me is, you know, Being an entrepreneur is scary and hard at any age, right? But I think, as you said, it's especially unique to be able to show other young women in particular that they can do this too, right?

12:51And I do feel like, you know, we're not really genuinely or putting out a story that shows that someone who is young and ambitious, but true to herself can do something big and can make a difference and can build this and be taken seriously. And I think that's a really important part of all this for the brand and for this category. And it gets a little bit lost in the sort of flashiness of creator, founder, influencer, you know, beauty. I think underlying this is an entrepreneurial story that is really inspiring. And again, I have three girls. My oldest is only eight and a half, although she definitely wants to be involved in the company and loves helping behind the scenes.

13:30But I love being able to say, look, here's a 16 year old and she's out there like building a company. How cool is that? So yeah, that part of it's really important. Yeah, I love that. And obviously having a creator co-founder brings like a built-in audience. So it basically means that you can put free eyeballs on your own company. And that is something that traditional brands have to pay millions of dollars for. But there's also a balance here. So like between like building a brand on sales only versus letting the brand build on itself. So what is the balance and how do you decide when and how sales should appear marketing and storytelling versus letting the brand and the product speaks for themselves?

14:05Absolutely. Yeah, no, it's absolutely a balance. And there's a reason, you know, the brand is called Sincerely Yours. It's not, you know, just Salish's skincare. Like, we want to make sure that there is an opportunity, you know, for the brand to stand on its own over time. And in particular, to make sure there's not too much pressure on her because, you know, she also has her own life to live and we want to make sure that this is manageable. But yeah, I think ultimately, you know, the balance, I think that you have to have the intention that you know your brand can and should be able to stand on its own.

14:33And anyone who walks into a Sephora who is our target customer should be able to understand the story, understand the product offering, what makes the products unique, and be able to go through that customer journey having no idea who any of the founders are, right? And that's the case for many brands. I think the thing that we try to be careful about is if you get too prescriptive and you say, well, by two years from now, it needs to be this, this and that. You're not allowing the brand to sort of organically unfold and listening to your customer along the way. So, yes, do we think that there's I think Sincerely Yours has so much to offer at a problem that we're solving regardless of any of the people behind the brand.

15:12But I also think that it's important to embrace the community that we've already started to build and, you know, make sure that we're kind of leaning into our superpowers. I mean, beyond the eyeballs that they offer, right, and the reach and the efficiency that you get, you know, from a marketing standpoint. What I think makes it special is that it doesn't have to feel like marketing. It doesn't have to feel like here's my marketing talking points and here's how. It's just another teenager who has a product she's made and she's sharing it with you as a friend. And ultimately, that's the best kind of market.

15:43And I think that's also the credits to Celis herself. Because to your point, like before they never launched their own brand or they haven't experimented with like other beauty brands or whatsoever. And so many times I see celebrities launching like multiple companies and many of them failed or occasionally they didn't talk about it anymore. They are not open about it. So I think that's also just to Celis' point that she hasn't been like promoting so many other companies. So once she actually does and leans in, then it's really authentic. Absolutely. I mean, listen, you know, they're among the biggest YouTubers now and creators full stop in the country, in the world.

16:20Salish has been number one on Famous Birthdays, most searched name for over a year now, I think almost over a year above Taylor Swift. So like, well, scale that they reach, you know, they could be doing anything. And I think it, yeah, is a huge credit to who they are that they chose to do something thinking long term and, you know, building something from the ground up that that she really that they both really believe in. So, yes, I think that that is really important also because this debt, this this generation, if you will, they see through sort of performative marketing like that. Right. Like they don't it's there's so much media out there.

16:56There's so many different channels or so many inputs. You know, when I was 13, I probably like looked at a, you know, commercial on TV and it was like, oh, that makes it, you know, they're just so much more sophisticated. I think it's critical that they, that we reach them. I mean, it's such an overused word, but you really have to reach them in an authentic way. Right. So yeah, I think it's been, it's been really special that Jordan and Zalich have focused the way they have on this, on this brand and this launch. Yeah, so let's talk about the launch, which was absolutely insane. And I, by the way, I love the announcement videos.

17:29I will put the link in the comments because I would love for people to check it out. But yeah, let's talk about the launch event. You actually secured like an opening event at a Sephora store in the American Dream Mall in New Jersey. And over 80 ,000 people showed up, causing actually the mall to be shut down. So what was that like? Well, I'm still recovering. It was just an out-of-body experience day. The background to this was we wanted to bring the brand to life through an event in person because, again, this customer loves to share experiences in person. I mean, one of the reasons we love partnering with Sephora is we know our customer wants to shop in person, in store, and experiencing that.

18:15That's one. Two, we really wanted it to be a consumer event and a community event. Another sort of like, not to knock this, but we didn't want to come out of the gate with the big influencer PR thing, right? That's what a lot of brands do, and it's so sort of exclusive to that group. And we just wanted our customer to know that they're welcome and that they can be part of this sort of celebration, if you will. So that was the plan. Thought it was a plan. And the American Dream in New Jersey was a great location because it was central to our community, you know, allowed us to, you know, we had a whole show planned and we had a pop up.

18:46It was a big space. We thought it was a big space. It all felt very natural to who we are as a brand. And I think ultimately, you know, we were just so blown away by how many people wanted to be part of it. We had planned for maybe, you know, a couple thousand. We had capacity for five thousand to come through the pop up. and you just never could have predicted what unfolded. So, you know, we, as you see in the videos, we did ultimately have to shut down the event because it just wasn't safe. There were just too many people there. We sold out of all the product in Sephora, I think within an hour.

19:19So we plan on doing more events so that we can make sure that we make it right and get to everyone who wanted to be involved. But it was a remarkable moment. And I think it just, again, speaks to the passion around Jordan and Salish And also the excitement to share in a brand that they are part of. We didn't even tell anyone what we were launching. Aside from like a couple of days beforehand, people were coming to this event and didn't even know what the event was about. So I think it really speaks to how excited their community are to be part of something she's behind. Yeah, and it shows how influential they are.

19:52Like I've been involved in brands of celebrities that have like 60 million followers and they have not been able to drive like$1 million in sales. I've also seen the other side. I've seen influencers that only have a million followers and they've been able to generate multi-million dollar revenue just by posting online, just because of how engaged their community is and how influential they are. Yeah, I think the American Dream All event definitely showed that they're very influential and I think that's most important. But also online, I think when you launched, large celebrities like Khloe Kardashian started to talk about it organically.

20:26So, Keita, tell us more about how you pulled that off. Yeah, I mean, we, you know, online, there's a lot of great support. And again, it comes back to, you know, longtime support and friendships for Jordan and Salish. And we haven't, we never have paid for anything. We don't plan to pay for support through influencers. We think it really has to be organic. And we want people to just love the product and love what we're doing. but you have to get product to people's hands so we sent a lot of product out we said if you love it please share in the excitement around launch and there was just a ton of great support so I mean it was that simple I think going forward the key is just making sure that you do have that same focus on the community and that you don't lose sight of you know of course the Khloe Kardashian's and the big influencers but also the smaller ones and the nanocreators and the folks who to your point might have a million followers but the followers I do have are so passionate and so trusting.

21:23And I just keep coming back to this idea of trust and connection because I think, yeah, coming back into this and especially, you know, new platforms like TikTok that move so quickly, I think now more than ever, you just need that focus on trust. There's no shortcut. Yeah, I don't think. And I think trust comes first and then great product to back it up and a great experience with the product you've built. But to get someone's attention now yeah i think you need to be able to have earned it um and yeah i i think that's one of the reasons why everyone wanted to talk about it they trust our co-founders yeah it's years of relationship building right so like it's not just something overnight um we actually at hotstar vc we call this celebrity friends with benefits basically talking about like a hidden hidden superpower that these celebrities have where they can basically tap into their celebrity friends who actually want to help them support just because they're friends.

22:18They don't care about getting paid for that or whatsoever. Yeah, you also talked about community. And I read online that you have built a community of 60 ,000 people, of teenagers, by the way, who have been sharing their input on the brand and that you've also built like a teen advice report, which includes like 30 teens. So can you elaborate on that? Yeah. So as I mentioned in the beginning, you know, we knew that we needed voices in the room. And of course, we've had Salish and her friends, or tight, close-knit friends along the way, but also felt like it was important to get a broader group together, especially so that we could have representation from different parts of the country, different ages, different backgrounds, diversity of voices is so important, you know, within any demographic.

22:57And so the team board was something, I think we started this process before we even had a name for the company. And it's, you know, started with friends of friends and kids, the kids of our medical advisors, you know, we just had a group that was started to pull together. And then over time, we built sort of one by one through various connections. And it's been awesome. And from the beginning, I said, if we're doing a board, they're going to be treated like a board. They're going to go to quarterly board meetings. They're going to have an agenda. We take notes. First couple of board meetings, I was more nervous about those than I was about public company board meetings I've done in the past.

23:30So it was definitely intimidating because it's a young group. But they were so excited, very honest and thoughtful in the feedback that they give and the questions they ask. And what's been most exciting is over time, I think they've become more comfortable and also been able to see their input come through. Right. And so the best board meetings and we said, and here's the product, you know, this is what you help build. You help name it. You've tested it, you know, given us ideas behind, you know, along the way. And so I think for that group, it's hopefully been really rewarding, again, to show that at any age you can be entrepreneurial and be part of something and that your voice is going to be listened to and that your opinion is valid.