EP196. Become a beauty entrepreneur at any age

In recent years, we've started to get asked one question more from our formulation audience than we ever have before, and that's, am I not too old to start a beauty brand? In fact, last time we ran some free training at Formula Botanica, we sold VIP tickets for people who wanted to go deeper into the formulations we were teaching. And one of the events we ran was a webinar for VIP ticket holders where everyone had their camera turned on so we could see people face to face. And it was so lovely to be able to see everyone. And I think maybe because it was a bit more intimate, people felt a bit more comfortable as well to ask us those questions that they otherwise maybe wouldn't have been brave enough to ask. And one of those questions, which came back repeatedly, as I already said, was, am I not too old to become a beauty entrepreneur and start my own business? And I then ran a search in our help desk where we answer tens of thousands of support tickets each year from prospective and current students. And I found dozens and dozens of those tickets from women also saying, am I too old to do this? Or even asking us, would I be the oldest person learning to formulate? And that made me think, this is obviously a really common question as it is starting to come back time and time again. But we've never actually put out the message to say everyone can do this at any age. So this podcast today is for all those people out there who think they can't become a formulator or they can't start a beauty brand because they're a certain age or they look a certain way, or they don't fit a particular demographic. Everyone can do this. And I'm going to break it down for you in this episode. 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. If you want to be the first to hear all of my latest episodes, make sure you subscribe to this podcast. So it breaks my heart to hear someone say that they think they're too old to become an entrepreneur. And I think there's very much this cultural expectation around entrepreneurialism and entrepreneurs being male, white and young. I think the media has painted a picture that has given a lot of women the idea that they might not fit the exact mold for what an entrepreneur or a formulator indeed should look like. And this is probably also really not helped by the beauty industry repeatedly telling us that you're not allowed to age. And yet, of course, we all know this. Deep down, an entrepreneur can look like anyone, and anyone can look like an entrepreneur. Anyone can start a business at any age. In fact, my 13 year old son keeps coming up with business ideas over the dinner table and it would be so easy for us to say to him, you're too young. But if he comes up with something that sounds great and has legs, then why on earth not? And the same goes for someone in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. And hey, if you make it to your century, then there is nothing stopping you from starting a business then too. I remember talking to a group of Formula Botanica students years ago and asking them why they wanted to start their own beauty brand. The answers were beautiful, but the one that really stood out to me was this message that our students want to build something in the world that's bigger than themselves, that gives them purpose, that fulfills them, that allows them to accomplish something amazing in their life. And don't all of us want this at every age? So why should anyone's dream be restricted to a certain phase in their life that makes literally no sense at all? One of our graduates at Formula Botanica is called Catherine and she recently posted the following up in our classroom and I'm going to read this out for you, she said. I am very proud to say at 72 years of age I have successfully completed Formula Botanica's Diploma in Organic skincare formulation. This has been a huge and exciting accomplishment for me. I decided to retire in 2020 during COVID and was always interested in creating DIY facial formulas. So I decided I wanted to learn how and why ingredients were chosen and mixed for skincare and she then posted up a photo of her products. I think she said her daughter had designed her packaging for her. It looked amazing. And in response to Catherine's post we saw all sorts of answers from other women who were also doing this in their 60s and 70s. Teresa, one of our students said. She commented and said that she started her formulation journey at the age of 69. And Vicki, another student, commented and said she thought she was the grandmother of formula botanica at 63 and is now on her fourth course with us. Now the point of me telling you this is that it's easy to assume that everyone fits a certain demographic, but actually we're seeing more and more women in their 60s, 70s, 80s enroll with us. It's such a cliche, I know, but I'm going to say it anyway, because age really is just a number. What matters is you. And if you have the drive and passion to make this happen, then what is stopping you? We heard it last week in my interview with Debbie from Birch Babe, who repeatedly talked about how exciting it is to run her business with her two daughters at the age of 65, and her brand is now stocked by over 300 retailers across North America. I love that for her. What an incredible story. And she said it as well. What's stopping you? You shouldn't have anything holding you back at any age. So my challenge to you for this week is that if you have a big idea and you want to have fun learning how to formulate, and you have a dream of creating something with meaning and purpose, then who cares about anyone else's preconceptions of what an entrepreneur looks like, or what age they are, or where they live, or what demographic they fit into. What matters is what's inside you and how much passion you have for achieving your big dream. I believe in you, so let's get you believing in you too. 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.