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The Heart-led Brand Podcast
The Heart-led Brand Podcast episodes
- 028 – Makeup for People Who Don't Wear Makeup with Minori
Minori is a San Francisco based clean makeup brand known as “makeup for people who don't wear makeup”. They launched 3 years ago and focus on creating the most essential, universally flattering products for a minimal, natural makeup look. Minori’s collection of lip glosses, cream blushes, highlighters, and newly launched sunscreen are sold in close to 350 stores in the United States and Canada.
In the episode, Abbey chats with their founder, Anastasia Bezrukova about:
- How her background in the beauty world and testing over 4,000 products led to her wanting to start her own brand that focuses on simplicity rather than overwhelm and overconsumption
- How long it really takes to build and launch a beauty brand (hint: longer than you think)
- Unique challenges Minori faced while trying to create their high quality packaging
- Tips for selling your products through wholesale
You can follow Minori on Instagram and TikTok or go shop their clean makeup products at minoribeauty.com!
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You can find the full episode show notes and more heart-led brand building advice at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/blog.
🎁 Or check out our free resources to help you build your own heart-led business at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/resources
40 min - 027 – Scent, Style and Sustainability with Old Flame Candle Co.
Jaclyn King is the founder of Old Flame Candle Co, a sustainable candle company redefining luxury home fragrance. In the crowded candle industry, Old Flame stands out by repurposing unique antique vessels into chic, statement piece candles that bring a touch of history and character to your home. But the best part is that these are candles you don’t have to throw away! Old Flame is working to reduce waste in the candle industry by offering a refill service so you can keep your candle burning as long as you want and swap it out with new fragrances when one runs out.
In the episode, Abbey chats with Jaclyn about:
- how she started making her own candles out of vintage vessels
- her CRAZY launch story (it involve Joanna Gaines, COVID and 700+ candles in Jaclyn’s living room)
- tips for offering product refills
- how they got their candles on Anthropologie
You can follow Old Flame Candle Co. on Instagram or go shop their latest drop of vintage refillable candles at oldflamecandleco.com!
We were also so lucky to work on Old Flame’s branding glow up and website! Click here to see the bts of that project and how we transformed their brand experience.
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You can find the full episode show notes and more heart-led brand building advice at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/blog.
🎁 Or check out our free resources to help you build your own heart-led business at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/resources
25 min - 026 – Creating a Human Centric Product with Playfield
Ivana Tay is the Founder and CEO of Playfield, a company that’s defining the "doggy and me" category by creating innovative human centric accessories for people who love their dogs and are constantly on the go. Their hero product is The Bailey Kit - a viral, patent pending dog walking system. And although Playfield has only been live for under a year, they’ve already been featured in British Vogue and is a brand with Victoria Secret Supermodel Taylor Hill's company, Tate & Taylor.
Before starting Playfield, Ivana spent 8 years at Google in the Bay Area and NYC growing major US and Canadian SMBs. She's also an angel investor and certified Pilates instructor. She's passionate about fighting the climate crisis, empowering more diverse builders and creators, and enabling accessible mentorship and education.
In the episode, Abbey chats with Ivana about:
- Navigating the transition from the corporate world to entrepreneurship
- How Ivana developed her hero product + utilizing customer feedback in the development process
- Other fun things like marketing strategies + staying true to yourself as a brand
You can follow Playfield on Instagram and TikTok or go shop their modular dog walking kit at ourplayfield.com!
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You can find the full episode show notes and more heart-led brand building advice at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/blog.
🎁 Or check out our free resources to help you build your own heart-led business at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/resources
34 min - 025 – Waterless Skincare with Seadrop
Serena Advani was working in the beauty industry when she discovered something surprising about the skincare products she was using – most of them were made up of 70-95% water. It seemed strange to be paying for a product that was mostly made from something she could get from the tap at home. And she remembered making her own homemade face masks as a kid with her mom, using recipes that had been passed down by her grandmother that created these powders that you could mix with water to make your own skincare concoctions.
That was the lightbulb moment that led her to start Seadrop – a zero-waste, clean skincare company that makes waterless cleansing tablets that are good for your skin and the environment.
In the episode, Abbey chats with Serena about:
- How she started her own skincare company
- The #1 piece of advice she wishes she’d listened to as a founder
- Some of the big challenges that she faced in the early days – from facing rejection to a last minute manufacturing crisis
You can follow Seadrop Skincare on Instagram @seadropskincare or go shop their Waterless Hydrating Seafoam Cleanser on seadropskincare.com!
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You can find the full episode show notes and more heart-led brand building advice at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/blog.
🎁 Or check out our free resources to help you build your own heart-led business at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/resources
30 min - 024 – Designing Adjustable Jeans with Tony’s Denim
Patti Oliva started her journey of creating Tony's Denim after struggling to find jeans that fit correctly. It seemed like everything was either too tight in the thighs or too loose in the waist, giving you this awkward gap in the back. She questioned why the waistband couldn’t be adjustable?? Allowing women to tailor their jeans themselves and always get the perfect fit. Since she couldn’t find anything on the market that matched what she wanted, she took the leap and decided to create them herself!
In the episode, Abbey chats with Patti about:
- How she started Tony’s Denim while still in college and some of the unique challenges that came along with that (like finding a mentor, figuring out how much money to invest in the business, and creating her first collection)
- Lessons she learned from her first launch
- Her hopes for the future of denim and sizing for women’s clothes
You can follow Tony's Denim on IG or Tiktok or go shop their jeans on tonysdenim.com! (Make sure to use the code "tony10" to get 10% off your order)
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You can find the full episode show notes and more heart-led brand building advice at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/blog.
🎁 Or check out our free resources to help you build your own heart-led business at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/resources
30 min - 023 – Reimagining Women’s Wellness with hey freya
Dr. Thara Vayali, ND is a licensed naturopathic physician in Vancouver and has over 10 years of clinical experience in women’s health. In 2022, she joined her two co-founders to launch hey freya – a women’s wellness brand that provides women with a path from burnout to renewal, through state-of-the-art biomarker testing with proprietary evidence-based supplement recommendations, and culturally competent health coaching.
In the episode, Abbey chats with Dr. Vayali about:
- Why hey freya chooses to focus on women’s wellness and the greater impact that it has on the world
- How they work together as 3 co-founders and some tips for creating a successful co-founder relationship
- Challenges they faced when seeking funding as a company that is focused on women and founded by women
- Their hope for the future of women’s wellness
You can follow hey freya on IG (@heyfreya.co) or go shop their products on heyfreya.co!
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You can find the full episode show notes and more heart-led brand building advice at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/blog.
🎁 Or check out our free resources to help you build your own heart-led business at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/resources
49 min - 022 – Bringing Class and Style to Post-Flush Perfumes with No.2
During the pandemic, Jess Ruhfus found herself sharing an apartment with two boys and let’s just say that the bathroom didn’t smell… great. She tried everything from sprays to candles to diffusers to drops to eliminate the unwanted smells, but was disappointed with all of the chemical synthetic fragrances and ugly packaging. So she saw an opportunity to create something better, cleaner and much more chic. Enter No.2, an Australian made post-flush perfume drop that's vegan, free of those nasty synthetic fragrances and uses essential oils to nullify unwanted smells. Plus, it comes in a chic, recyclable glass bottle that you'd be proud to display in your delightful bathroom.
In the episode, Abbey chats with Jess about:
- The scrappy beginnings of creating a product + the challenges of selling out
- Using nano-influencers to build hype around your product and attract new customers
- The power of brand partnerships
- No.2’s approach to marketing with engaging video content that sparks conversations
You can follow No.2 on IG @no.2_co or go shop their post-flush drops at no-2.co!
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You can find the full episode show notes and more heart-led brand building advice at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/blog.
🎁 Or check out our free resources to help you build your own heart-led business at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/resources
36 min - 021 – Non-Toxic Period Products with Rif Care
Rif (which stands for Regenerative International Female) is a wellness company that makes non toxic, organic period care products using hemp fiber. It was founded by childhood best friends Val Emanuel and Rebecca Caputo in 2022 and they’ve quickly taken off as a trusted new voice in the period care industry. They are all about providing safe and non hormone disrupting cycle care solutions for women and lowering their carbon footprint one period at a time. In the episode, Abbey chats with Val about:
- What led her to the period product business + her first steps to starting Rif
- Big challenges they faced (like finding a manufacturer, deciding how many SKUs to launch with, and marketing regrets)
- Their experience on the tv series Side Hustlers and how it has impacted their business
You can follow Rif on IG @rifcare or go shop their products on rifcare.com!
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You can find the full episode show notes and more heart-led brand building advice at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/blog.
🎁 Or check out our free resources to help you build your own heart-led business at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/resources
32 min - 020 – Filling a Gap in the Protein Bar Market with Resist
Resist is a low sugar, vegan protein bar company. Their story started when Drew Lederman was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome and insulin resistance at 18. Although there are many “healthy” protein bars out there, she couldn’t find one with clean ingredients that didn't trigger her hormonal symptoms or give her a fast blood sugar spike. So she teamed up with her co-founder, Emily, and a board of medical advisors to create Resist and start offering delicious, doctor-recommended vegan bars with a clinically-backed stable blood sugar response.
In the episode, Abbey talks with Drew about:
- The steps she took to research, test products and launch the business
- An expensive packaging mistake that they made in the early days
- Why those “healthy” protein bars aren’t always what they seem and how Resist is filling a gap in the industry by focusing on ingredients that won’t spike your blood sugar
- Tips for making the transition from D2C to retail and thinking out of the box when it comes to choosing retail partners
You can follow Resist on IG and Tiktok or go shop their products at eatresist.com! And use the code "HEARTLED15" to get 15% off your order 🎉
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You can find the full episode show notes and more heart-led brand building advice at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/blog.
🎁 Or check out our free resources to help you build your own heart-led business at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/resources
38 min - 019 – Building a Community-Driven Brand with Calling
Sabah always knew that she wanted to start her own business one day, but never expected it to be in beauty. She started her career journey in the fashion world, working at Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford Beauty and Harrods. But as you’ll hear in this interview, life took a turn and led her to launch Calling – a clean beauty brand that puts community first. They officially launched in 2023 with their hero product, Face Fog, and have already been featured in British Vogue and named Best New Beauty Brand by Pure Beauty Magazine.
In the episode, Abbey talks with Sabah about:
- The first steps that she took to launch Calling – from consumer research to finding manufacturers to figuring out supply chain issues
- Why she chose to launch with just one product
- How she’s approached marketing and dealing with social media burnout as a business owner
You can follow Calling on Instagram, TikTok or go shop their products on callingbeauty.com
––
You can find the full episode show notes and more heart-led brand building advice at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/blog.
🎁 Or check out our free resources to help you build your own heart-led business at wayfarerdesignstudio.com/resources
58 min
About The Heart-led Brand Podcast
From the publisher's feed
Sit down with brand + web designer Abbey McGrew as she chats with e-commerce founders about their unique journey to building a thoughtful business. From unexpected career paths to creating their first…
product, they’ll share all of the valuable lessons they’ve learned along the way and how they’ve stayed true to themselves.