EP152. Lifting the barriers to sustainable beauty

Doing the right thing can often be expensive Starting a sustainable beauty brand is undoubtedly more costly than starting one that seamlessly slots into the current systems created by the cosmetics industry. You know, the ones where we use the same non recyclable packaging, or the ones where ingredients are sourced from monocultures and aren't always biodegradable, or the ones that rely on the same old tired messaging that every big PC brand likes to share with, which is that you'll only be good enough if you buy their products now. Bucking the trend can be hard, but particularly so when it comes to entrepreneurs of color, where the system often works against them from day one. In fact, last week here on the Green Beauty Conversations podcast, I interviewed Dr. Candace Parish to talk about the history of slavery in soap making. And Candice made a very interesting point towards the end of our interview in which he explained that embracing sustainability is expensive and it limits entrepreneurs of color from getting into this industry, even though those communities will be the ones that suffer the effects of the climate and ecological crises the most. This is a point that many climate influencers have been making for quite a while now too, so I think it's worth exploring in a bit more detail what that means, and I think it's worth looking at how we can potentially start to dismantle this ridiculous system. So join me today as I look at the barriers to entry for entrepreneurs of color when it comes to sustainable beauty. Hi, it's Lorraine Dallmeyer, Chartered environmentalist, biologist and CEO of award winning online organic cosmetic formulation school Formula Botanica. I host the Green Beauty Conversations podcast and these are my Green Beauty opinions in which I share my takeaways from the podcast interview we released last week and set you a challenge to make the green beauty sector a better place. And if you want to be the first to hear all of my latest episodes, please make sure you subscribe to this podcast. So I read an article the other day that said that entrepreneurs are of color or entrepreneurs from minority groups generally need significantly more funding to start up a business compared to their white peers, and that additional expense comes in the form of paying higher interest rates on the loans that they get or requiring more consultancy input because they don't receive the same level of support, as well as other systemic barriers that make it riskier to start a business, such as not meeting eligibility criteria for grants or accelerators. And these founders often also have to dig deeper into their own savings to get started, placing them at additional risk. And despite this larger financial and yes, emotional input, they're still getting less venture capital too. As we already covered in episode 97 of this podcast, when we looked at how indie beauty can help break the gender bias in 2021, Black female startup founders received just 0.34%, 0.34% of the total venture capital spent in the U.S. although apparently that number is, yes, a five year high and is slightly on the rise. But let's be fair, that is dreadful. That is shameful. But then add onto that the drive to start a sustainable business and you might find that the barriers could be even higher. After all, once you make a decision to fully embrace sustainability, circularity, climate neutrality, ecological responsibility, social justice, you'll be limiting yourself further on packaging choices, ingredient availability, supply chains, manufacturers and more. If the system is fundamentally weighted against you from the start, doing the right thing will feel like an uphill struggle. But if this is you, I want you to remember that the one thing you have that will always be uniquely yours is your message and your big mission. No one can take that away from you. And that message doesn't cost anything. That message is what bursts out of you when you think about taking the formulations you make and selling them in the world. And it's very possible that your message will be what carries your business over all those hurdles. If it drives you enough to get you out of bed in the morning and make a difference. Take Formula Botanica graduate Sandra Velazquez of Nopaleira as a fantastic example. Now, Sandra has been on the podcast here with me in episode 91, do go and Listen to it, and she is on a mission to lift up Latina culture in beauty. She's been repeatedly told for years that Mexican products are cheap. What a way to devalue someone's culture. And Sandra went on Shark Tank recently. The episode was broadcast in January of this year and we shared a snippet with our classroom on Facebook. And the comments exploded because Sandra received two offers, both of which undervalued her business quite significantly. So she very politely thanked the two sharks, said that she was listening to her ancestors and she was standing in her self worth by saying no. One of the sharks was so indignant it's hilarious to watch. But instead, Sandra walked off screen cheering herself on every step of the way. And I can tell you I was also cheering her on, as were tens of thousands of other women and entrepreneurs and pretty much everyone in the Formula Botanica community following the filming of that episode. So before it was broadcast on TV, Nopalera received 2.7 million in investment funding. Sandra's brand is now stocked in over 450 retailers across the US and the point I want you to take from this is that Sandra's message is carrying her business over the many hurdles that so many beauty entrepreneurs from minority groups have to face. As she said on Twitter recently, when you know what your values are, decisions are easy. And my four values are 1 be culturally bold, 2 stand in your worth, 3 courage is contagious and 4 write the story. And it's brands like Sandra's or Candice, who I interviewed here on the podcast last week, or many of the entrepreneurs from minority groups who are driven to do the right thing, create a beautiful brand and whose messages shine through in everything they do. Who will scale those hurdles? And once they've scaled those hurdles, I have no doubt that they'll be opening up doors for everybody, everyone in the future to lower those barriers to entry. This is how we all lift each other up. So my challenge to you for this week is to buy from brands that stand for something. Lift them up, help them amplify their message. Chances are the brand founders you're buying from have dealt with exactly these challenges that I've been talking about today, and every single sale they make helps them get one step closer to their goal. This goes for the sustainable beauty sector, but it also counts for purpose driven brands in all sectors. You get to vote with your wallet and isn't that empowering? Thank you for listening to my Green Beauty opinions. Remember to visit the Formula botanica website@formulabotanica.com to try our free online formulation course. And if you haven't subscribed yet to the Green Beauty Conversations podcast, please make sure you do so now in your favorite podcast app. Leave me a five star review if you enjoy the conversations. I host and I'll be back soon with my next episode Sat.