This week, Elaine Choi —Founding President and COO of Crown Affair, a haircare brand reimagining how people care for their hair and their relationship to it through clean, effective formulas and handcrafted tools—discusses the challenges of scaling the business, securing investment and the use of organic growth and community building to expand its customer base while never compromising on its commitment to clean ingredients and sustainability. Additionally, she shares advice for navigating relationships with co-founders and the importance of having a culture of feedback. 

Elaine also emphasizes taking time for self-care and finding moments of silence amidst the noise of building a brand. Additional  key takeaways from Elaine:

“Set your goal and be patient with yourself on getting to those incremental milestones”

“Even if we have to cut down on our margins or increase the price a little bit, we’re never going to compromise on the standards”

“I have goals for the business, but for me, it’s really about building a great team”

“I just took the leap. It felt right to me.”

 

Follow @crownaffair or visit https://www.crownaffair.com/!

 

Elaine Choi is the Founding President and COO of Crown Affair, a haircare brand reimagining how people care for their hair and their relationship to it through clean and effective formulas and handcrafted tools.She has experience building and scaling organizations in various industries across  healthcare, education, and hospitality, and now consumer, spanning for profit and nonprofit sectors with a focus on people first.She serves as a Board of Associates member for the Robert Day Scholars program at Claremont McKenna College and as mentor through Crown Affair’s Seedling Mentorship Program.

 

Influencer & Brand Shout-Out: @sofiepavittface @sofiepavitt

 

Elaine’s Word of 2023: Abundance

 

Tune in to hear more from Kendra and Elaine!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.