885 Dr. Whitney Hovenic: Co-Founder of SPOOGE

25:37It's hard. You know, it doesn't necessarily feel great to have sunscreen in your ears, but you have to remember that. It's, you know, my job is very biased because all you really see is skin cancer, but ears are notorious. And actually ears are listed as a higher risk spot for skin cancer. So ears, nose and lips and then your temple right here. If you get a skin cancer there, it is more of a, sometimes more of a big deal. So lube up your ears. Lube them up. And then wash them. And then wash them out your legs.

26:08Kara Goldin:This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by Monarch. Summer is here and I'm thinking about the fun part. Planning trips, making memories, and actually being present. What I don't want is to be on vacation worrying about whether I overspent. That's why I like getting my finances organized ahead of time so I can enjoy the summer knowing my money is taken care of. Monarch is the personal finance app that tracks everything, accounts, investments, savings goals, and spending. Get your first year of Monarch Core for half off, just$50 with promo code CARAGOOLDEN. What I love is that Monarch is always working in the background.

26:48Kara Goldin:It recently showed me my travel and dining spending had quietly crept up and my savings rate had slipped a bit. That visibility helped me make adjustments before it became a bigger issue. It really feels like having a financial advisor in your pocket. The AI Weekly Recap catches spending trends. The Sand Key diagram makes it easy to see exactly where your money is going. And I love being able to ask the AI assistant questions like, can I afford this vacation without touching my savings? It takes so much of the mental load out of managing my finances. Use code CARAgolden at Monarch.com to get your first year of Monarch Core half off at just$50.

27:32Kara Goldin:That's 50 % off your first year at Monarch.com with code CARAgolden. Support for today's episode comes from Calci. We make predictions every single day about politics, pop culture, the economy, and the biggest stories making headlines. Calci, America's number one predictions market platform, lets you trade those predictions in a live market. And what I find interesting is that these aren't just opinions. You can actually see what people think is likely to happen based on a live market. Here's a fun one. Will Taylor Swift have more than 15 million views in a single day this August? Right now, that's trading at about 63%, meaning a$100 trade at 63 cents would pay about$159 if it happens.

28:21Kara Goldin:On CalShe, you're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house. And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position. Download the CalShe app and use code CARAgolden to get$20 off when you trade$20. K-A-L-S-H-I, Calci, trade on everything. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Calci products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calci.com slash regulatory.

29:04Kara Goldin:This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by Rippling. Running a business means making hundreds of decisions every week. The hard part isn't finding data. It's knowing what's happening right now and having the confidence to act on it. That's why Rippling AI stands out. It's built on your live people and business data with all your systems connected in one place. That means it can instantly pull accurate real-time information to create reports, dashboards, workflows, and more. So you're always working from the latest picture of your business. Let's say you find out your sales team is at risk of missing quota.

29:45Kara Goldin:Instead of waiting days or even weeks for someone to build a report, just ask Rippling AI. It instantly pulls real-time data from Rippling and Salesforce into a presentation-ready dashboard showing quota attainment, headcount plan, and monthly revenue to quota by region. In seconds, you can see exactly what's behind your quota risk. But here's what I think is really powerful. Rippling AI doesn't stop at insights. It turns those insights into action by creating an automated recruiting workflow whenever it notices open sales roles and lagging time to fill are directly impacting quota attainment.

30:26Kara Goldin:And because permissions are automatically inherited and actions flow through your existing approval chains, all you have to do is review it and tap confirm to set the workflow in motion. Question answered, action taken, problem solved before it has the chance to happen. Ready to rule your business? Head to rippling.ai slash Kara Golden and get the only AI built to give you full visibility and take complex actions across your entire organization. That's r-i-p-p-l-i-n-g dot a-i slash Kara Golden. Sign up for exclusive access today. Yeah, very, very interesting. So Spooge is coming up on its one-year anniversary, right?

31:14Kara Goldin:Or did it just have its one-year anniversary? Last week, we did. Yeah, we did last Wednesday. Awesome. Congratulations. So looking back, what has surprised you most about your first year of business? Oh my gosh, that's hard. I think everything is a surprise. I think what surprised me most is actually the reception we've gotten. You know, I think when, especially being at Cosmoprof this past week, what surprised me most was because I was terrified. We were pretty successful at the show last year in terms of the energy and what came out of the show. And I thought, okay, here we are. We're going back to the same section of this conference.

31:51Like, what if it's a total flop? What if nobody comes to our booth? So I think the biggest surprise for me was the people coming up to me and saying, we met you last year. We've been following you. We're so glad to see you here. or we met you last year, you were so busy. We didn't even get a chance to talk to you. You guys are crazy busy again, but we're so glad we get the time with you. I think that's been the biggest surprise is just seeing the energy build because you don't know, you know, you don't know when you bring a product in if it's gonna be, you know, how it's gonna do. And so that's been the biggest surprise and the biggest validation, which is really, it's really nice.

32:24Kara Goldin:How many SKUs did you launch with a year ago and how has that changed today? So we launched with four. so we kind of call it our core four products so and those were two for face and then two for face and body and then we came out with our product for skiing and snowboarders don't want to forget them in november and we launched that but we we launched that in two sizes we have a full size and we have a like little mini one i'm a big skier and i so i always wanted that to be part of the line and so we thought it was important even though we it was a lot i that's actually another big surprise. I had no idea how much it takes just to launch one product.

33:02And when we did, when we started this, I wanted to launch seven products. And then we dialed it back. And now, you know, we launched four and then we launched the second one. And then we have new things coming.

33:14Kara Goldin:And so how does the ski product differ versus your other sunscreens? So this one we formulated with vitamin E and ceramides, because when you're on the mountain, you're not just getting UV exposure, you're also getting ice, wind, you know, all of the elements. So your skin, you know, you're a skier, so your skin gets chapped, right? You just, it could be the cloudiest day and people come in bright red. So we wanted this to also feel like a very soothing product with barrier protection. So protecting the skin from zinc oxide alone helps with barrier protection, but then you add in ceramides and vitamin E, which are ceramides are part of the outer layer of your skin.

33:53It's the fat that helps keep your skin hydrated. And so by adding those in, it makes it, you're going to give that extra sealant on the outside. Now it's not going to feel like a mask. It actually, this product is actually very lightweight. So a difference is when we formulated it to go on and really spread very easily, especially in a cold environment, because when you're sitting on the chairlift and you're like, I can't get my sunscreen stick out, you know, the product has a different viscosity when it's cold. So, but it also feels great. So I, you know, I found myself putting this on when I'd come back in also, because, you know, you're out, I tend to stay out for too long when I ski because I love it so much.

34:33And so I'd come back in and I wasn't going back out for more sun, but I was, you know, I wanted to rehydrate my face afterwards. And then it has antioxidants. We have Edelweiss extract and raspberry seed oil. And those specific antioxidants I chose because they have mountain roots. So Edelweiss is a flower that you find in the Alps. Skiing came from the Alps. So that's the tie back there. And then if you go hiking in the mountains, you often find raspberries. So I really wanted to be very thoughtful about choosing those ingredients.

35:03Kara Goldin:Support for today's episode comes from Kalshi. We make predictions every single day about politics, pop culture, the economy, and the biggest stories making headlines. Kalshi, America's number one predictions market platform lets you trade those predictions in a live market. And what I find interesting is that these aren't just opinions. You can actually see what people think is likely to happen based on a live market. Here's a fun one. Will Taylor Swift have more than 15 million views in a single day this August? Right now, that's trading at about 63%, meaning a$100 trade at 63 cents would pay about$159 if it happens.

35:46Kara Goldin:On CalShe, you're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house. And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position. Download the CalShe app and use code CARAgolden to get$20 off when you trade $20. K-A-L-S-H-I, Calci, trade on everything. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Calci products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calci.com slash regulatory.

36:29Kara Goldin:This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by Monarch. Summer is here and I'm thinking about the fun part, planning trips, making memories, and actually being present. What I don't want is to be on vacation worrying about whether I overspent. That's why I like getting my finances organized ahead of time so I can enjoy the summer knowing my money is taken care of. Monarch is the personal finance app that tracks everything. Accounts, investments, savings goals, and spending. Get your first year of Monarch Core for half off, just$50, with promo code CARAGOOLDEN. What I love is that Monarch is always working in the background.

37:10Kara Goldin:It recently showed me my travel and dining spending had quietly crept up and my savings rate had slipped a bit. That visibility helped me make adjustments before it became a bigger issue. It really feels like having a financial advisor in your pocket. The AI Weekly Recap catches spending trends. The Sand Key diagram makes it easy to see exactly where your money is going. And I love being able to ask the AI assistant questions like, can I afford this vacation without touching my savings? It takes so much of the mental load out of managing my finances. Use code CARAGolden at Monarch.com to get your first year of Monarch Core half off at just$50.

37:54Kara Goldin:That's 50 % off your first year at Monarch.com with code CARAGolden. This episode of the Cara Golden Show is brought to you by Rippling. Running a business means making hundreds of decisions every week. The hard part isn't finding data, it's knowing what's happening right now and having the confidence to act on it. That's why Rippling AI stands out. It's built on your live people and business data with all your systems connected in one place. That means it can instantly pull accurate real-time information to create reports, dashboards, workflows, and more. So you're always working from the latest picture of your business.

38:37Kara Goldin:Let's say you find out your sales team is at risk of missing quota. Instead of waiting days or even weeks for someone to build a report, just ask Rippling AI. It instantly pulls real-time data from Rippling and Salesforce into a presentation-ready dashboard showing quota attainment, headcount plan, and monthly revenue to quota by region. In seconds, you can see exactly what's behind your quota risk. But here's what I think is really powerful. Rippling AI doesn't stop at insights. It turns those insights into action by creating an automated recruiting workflow whenever it notices open sales roles and lagging time to fill are directly impacting quota attainment.

39:22Kara Goldin:And because permissions are automatically inherited and actions flow through your existing approval chains, all you have to do is review it and tap confirm to set the workflow in motion. Question answered, action taken, problem solved before it has the chance to happen. Ready to rule your business? Head to rippling.ai slash Kara Golden and get the only AI built to give you full visibility and take complex actions across your entire organization. That's R-I-P-P-L-I-N-G dot A-I slash Kara Golden. Sign up for exclusive access today. Thanks. I love it. I love the tinted sunscreen that you have. Can you talk a little bit about that?

40:09Kara Goldin:Like, why do I love it so much? Why is it so great? Kara, I love this one. In fact, I, Hillary, my partner, like I will send her a video in the morning. I'm like, I'm putting on Doomy and I'm so happy. And she's like, shut up. Like, I know, I know how much you love Doomy. And this is my baby. This is why I love it. Let me see if I can aim at the camera. So it comes out and then it just spreads and then it just gives you this glow, but it also makes your skin feel amazing. like I'll put it on I have one on my desk and I'll just like dab it under my eyes and it has hyaluronic acid which helps with hydration and then it also has niacinamide also I tend to get a little melasma you know I live at high altitudes so this helps protect against some pigment formation but I think you and I both love it because of the way that it feels more than I and it looks makes you look pretty it glows up your skin I it's amazing actually I was at dinner the other night and I was with these three girls and I'm like god you guys all look amazing and they're like, do me in mascara.

41:09That's it. I'm like, okay, that's awesome. Because I think we also all want simplicity in our lives.

41:16Kara Goldin:Yeah, for sure. And melasma, when you talked about that, like, is that just very dry conditions? Or can you talk a little bit more about that? Yeah, melasma is pigmentation. So a lot of women, especially get melasma because we have hormones, and then we have sunshine. So it's more than just freckling. It can be like these kind of like funny shape brown brown patches it happens a lot when you're pregnant it can happen like for happen to me with birth control you know i went out i started on birth control and i went skiing and i was like what happened to my face and it's it's pigment formation triggered by estrogen and sunshine but it can persist long beyond your like peak estrogen years so for a lot of women it's a struggle so it's important to use specifically a tinted sunscreen because the tinted sunscreens contain iron oxides.

42:06The iron oxides are also helpful against other things beyond UV that can trigger melasma like screens. So like blue light can actually make pigmentation worse. So that's part of the reason a tinted formulation is helpful. Plus, it also can hide irregularities.

42:21Kara Goldin:So when do you know a sunscreen is working for you? That you're not getting tan or you're not getting burned? I mean, when do you know that, oh, wow, this is a great, beyond the feel, beyond sort of the initial, but when do you know that that is a really good one? I think it's just that you're using it and you're not getting burned. You're not getting, you know, it depends on where you live, right? I am religious about sunscreen, but I live at 5 ,000 feet and I play at 8 ,000, 9 ,000, 10 ,000 feet all the time. So I, and I also have all of these skin. I will, nothing is going to keep me pale, pale, pale.

43:00So I think, but not getting burned, but a lot of sunscreen efficacy, you have to remember too, comes from how you're applying it. So it's, it can be very hard to judge. You actually have to, in order to get the full SPF value that's on the bottle. And let's say you're putting this on to go to the beach, right? And you're going to be out in a bikini. For example, you actually need to apply a shot glass-sized amount to your whole body to actually get that SPF. Do you do that? Do I do that? No. Nobody uses enough. So kind of the general rule of thumb, too, is the actual amount that you're going to be putting on your body is probably about half of that.

43:36So you actually may only be getting about half of that SPF. And that's why the American Academy of Dermatology has always recommended an SPF 30 or higher, because the reality is you're probably getting an SPF 10 to 15. So reapplication is key, no matter what. And beyond the SPF level, there is no such thing as waterproof sunscreen. You can have water-resistant sunscreen, but that's really only for 80 minutes. And so you've got to remember to put your sunscreen on you somewhere where you can reapply. And that's the truth. So, you know, and for me, I, you know, we launched these products and that was always my biggest fear.

44:13It was like, I've done SPF testing on them. They've gone through like the good lab regulations, but are they working? So I put them to the test. I was in Hawaii in April and that was really like a good, like I'm in the sun. I'm a dermatologist, so I'm moderately in the sun, but I had my kids using them regularly and the fact that they worked well. And we've had so many people tell us how much they appreciate that they work well without feeling super heavy, which is nice.

44:41Kara Goldin:Support for today's episode comes from Kalshi. We make predictions every single day about politics, pop culture, the economy, and the biggest stories making headlines. Kalshi, America's number one predictions market platform, lets you trade those predictions in a live market. And what I find interesting is that these aren't just opinions. You can actually see what people think is likely to happen based on a live market. Here's a fun one. Will Taylor Swift have more than 15 million views in a single day this August? Right now, that's trading at about 63%, meaning a$100 trade at 63 cents would pay about$159 if it happens.

45:24Kara Goldin:On CalShe, you're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house. And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position. Download the CalShe app and use code CARAGolden to get$20 off when you trade$20. K-A-L-S-H-I. CalShe. Trade on everything. 18 plus only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. CalShe products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calshe.com slash regulatory.

46:07Kara Goldin:This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by Rippling. Running a business means making hundreds of decisions every week. The hard part isn't finding data, it's knowing what's happening right now and having the confidence to act on it. That's why Rippling AI stands out. It's built on your live people and business data with all your systems connected in one place. That means it can instantly pull accurate real-time information to create reports, dashboards, workflows, and more. So you're always working from the latest picture of your business. Let's say you find out your sales team is at risk of missing quota.

46:48Kara Goldin:Instead of waiting days or even weeks for someone to build a report, just ask Rippling AI. It instantly pulls real-time data from Rippling and Salesforce into a presentation-ready dashboard showing quota attainment, headcount plan, and monthly revenue to quota by region. In seconds, you can see exactly what's behind your quota risk. But here's what I think is really powerful. Rippling AI doesn't stop at insights. It turns those insights into action by creating an automated recruiting workflow whenever it notices open sales roles and lagging time to fill are directly impacting quota attainment.

47:29Kara Goldin:And because permissions are automatically inherited and actions flow through your existing approval chains, all you have to do is review it and tap confirm to set the workflow in motion. Question answered, action taken, problem solved before it has the chance to happen. Ready to rule your business? Head to rippling.ai slash Kara Golden and get the only AI built to give you full visibility and take complex actions across your entire organization. That's r-i-p-p-l-i-n-g dot a-i slash Kara Golden. Sign up for exclusive access today. This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by Monarch.

48:14Kara Goldin:Summer is here and I'm thinking about the fun part, planning trips, making memories, and actually being present. What I don't want is to be on vacation worrying about whether I overspent. That's why I like getting my finances organized ahead of time so I can enjoy the summer knowing my money is taken care of. Monarch is the personal finance app that tracks everything, accounts, investments, savings goals, and spending. Get your first year of Monarch Core for half off just$50 with promo code CARAGOOLDEN. What I love is that Monarch is always working in the background. It recently showed me my travel and dining spending had quietly crept up and my savings rate had slipped a bit.

48:57Kara Goldin:That visibility helped me make adjustments before it became a bigger issue. It really feels like having a financial advisor in your pocket. The AI Weekly Recap catches spending trends. The Sankey diagram makes it easy to see exactly where your money is going. And I love being able to ask the AI assistant questions like, can I afford this vacation without touching my savings? It takes so much of the mental load out of managing my finances. Use code CARAGOLDEN at MONARCH.COM to get your first year of Monarch Core half off at just$50. That's 50 % off your first year at MONARCH.COM with code CARAGOLDEN.

49:39Kara Goldin:Got to reapply. Yeah, definitely have to reapply. So the brand has, Spooch has received tons of editor love awards for a really young brand. TikTok buzz, strong Amazon performance. What kind of milestones, like you said, you just wanted to create products, put them up on a website, but it's become much, much bigger than that. So what early milestones give you, I guess, confidence that Spooge will make it to the next level? Every founder, you know, starts like, should I be doing this? You've obviously got a whole other career, busy career that you focus on. Obviously, this meshes very well into that.

50:28Kara Goldin:But when do you know that you're doing the right thing, right? Building the right brand, the right company with the right products? Well, it's funny you say that. So the very first thing that made me know that I was doing the right thing was actually a very simple incident. And that I have this friend who I think she thought I was a little crazy for doing this. And she was a little bit I was always kind of like, I'm not going to talk about this too much around her. But she she got my products. And then she called me one day and she said, Whitney, my son is wearing sunscreen and I don't have to ask him to do it.

51:02And he's a 15 year old boy and he's blonde with freckles. And, you know, I've spent a lot of time with this kid and I've seen the battle that she used to have. And she's like, he's wearing it. And I was like, OK, if we do nothing else and we save that kid from potentially having skin cancer and wrinkles, you know, then I know we're doing the right thing. And it's those little wins. It's not even sometimes like the major milestones. Obviously, the press, it's amazing. Like, I think the day that we launched, we had an amazing article come out in the Beauty Independent. And that was like, what? You know, they were talking about what we were doing.

51:40and even just when you when you hear other people talking about your brand and especially when it's non-solicited right like we didn't necessarily give this person product we didn't share this but they find it on their own and then they talk about it that's when it really is so impactful and you know I feel like we're at the beginning of our journey we're really like we're working on our college ambassador program. And that was another time I was in a sorority and we were talking to these girls about sun protection. And I've done a lot of that through the years, but it was, they were so engaged.

52:16And that was amazing because I remember when I used to give these lectures when I was in residency and the girls would like give me death stares because it was like pre spring break in Missouri and everybody had been tanning and they're like, don't tell me that I can die from this. But these girls were like in the sorority and we were talking to them and we were showing them the products and they were super receptive. And I'm like, okay, these are the things I want to see. And even though there are plenty of days, Kara, where I'm like, what am I doing? I had a decent life. Why am I packing boxes in my garage until 1 a.m.?

52:45Why am I on email until 2 a.m.? I mean, it's crazy. Yeah, it's crazy. But it's very fun.

52:52Kara Goldin:It's such a good product. And I'm so happy that you've built this company. And obviously, your practice too, as I mentioned, is quite busy. You're in Reno. So anyone who's going not only to Reno, but up in the Tahoe area, you're not too far away. So definitely keep that in mind, anyone who's listening. But thank you again, Dr. Whitney Hovnik. Thank you for joining today. And I love the story. Love the brand. You're doing super good things. You're taking something incredibly serious skin cancer prevention and making it very approachable and modern. And for everyone listening, definitely check out Spooge.

53:37Kara Goldin:Order it online. Definitely follow them as well. They're doing really, really good things. But thank you again. Thanks, everyone, for listening. Until next time. Thanks again for listening to The Kara Golden Show. If you would, please give us a review and feel free to share this podcast with others who would benefit. And of course, feel free to subscribe so you don't miss a single episode of our podcast. Just a reminder that I can be found on all platforms at Kara Golden. I would love to hear from you too. So feel free to DM me. And if you want to hear more about my journey, I hope you will have a listen or pick up a copy of my Wall Street Journal bestselling book, Undaunted, where I share more about my journey, including founding and building Hint.

54:27Kara Goldin:We are here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Thanks for listening and goodbye for now.