Today, Poppy King (founder of the game-changing, Australian-born beauty brand Lipstick Queen and author of the popular book Lessons of a Lipstick Queen) might just remind you of the Roald Dahl version of Willy Wonka. But the real story is how at just 7 years old a determination was sparked in her that led to becoming one of Australia’s first well-known Entreprenistas, building an $8M business by the time she was 19 (during a bad economic recession, and without investors or formal business education, and a phone book as a surprisingly important resource.) When the time was right, she sold her business and became an executive at Estee Lauder to learn the corporate ropes. Now she’s launching a new brand. Poppy has worked as hard and sacrificed as much as anyone, but she looks at her story as a bit of a fairy tale.
Now, it’s “Poppy unplugged”, sharing insights and stories she’s never been able to talk about before. She joins Socialfly Co-Founder Stephanie Cartin in the MouthMedia Network studio for a conversation about building her business and career, and describes her journey to success including the ah-ha moment that motivated Poppy to create, and to help other women; the detective work that’s typical for successful entreprenistas; how she went viral before social media and before going viral was even a thing; the important difference between follower and customer; why she wanted to leave Estee Lauder after 2 weeks but stayed for 3 years; how understanding that possible isn’t always probable has given her energy; and the power and joy of letting go of results. Plus, a surprise.