The world of innovation is full of many unique challenges and conundrums, but perhaps none so painfully true as this: those who have access to the money don’t always have the ideas… and those who have the ideas often find themselves struggling to find the money. This problem is uniquely pronounced in one particular industry: beauty. 

“The brands can't come up with true innovation and a lot of brands don't take the consumer's feedback early enough for it to really make a difference in the end product,” Patricia Santos says. “They would see consumer research reports that say like 90, 95% of women say this helped reduce fine lines and wrinkles and things like that. But by the time they're doing those studies, that formula is done. They never asked anybody before that. That thing is on the manufacturing line and getting boxed up and sent. Millions of them are already millions of them and made so I thought, well, a real way to make a difference is to bring the customer in way before that. You wanna ask her what she thinks of a product before you actually make it, and if she hates it, hey, that's a great way to prevent returns. And that's a great way to prevent failed products and not invest so much money launching a product that people are actually going to not like.”

Santos is the Co-Founder of Volition Beauty. She saw this problem first-hand when she was a newly-minted business school graduate navigating the cut-throat world of venture capital – and it bothered her, because the more she encountered the problem, the more she realized that she might have an answer. 

“Okay, this is definitely a problem that should be solved,” Santos says. “And I want to solve it in some way, shape, or form.”  

Volition Beauty is on a mission to democratize beauty by putting the power back in the hands of those who use it. Seems simple, right? Santos will tell you that it was much harder than it sounds, but what she’s found in return has been greater than anything she could have expected. This is The Journey. 

Main Takeaways:

• If You See Something, Change Something: From where you sit in your office job, in your home, in your own business, or anywhere else, you may ome across a problem or a situation that you think needs to be changed. Don’t assume someone else is working on changing things, put the onus on yourself to formulate a solution and then bring it to light, because that’s the only thing that actually makes change happen.
• Ask The Audience: Your consumers are almost always your best resource. They can be a source of feedback, ideas, and even solutions to problems you have been struggling with — or didn’t even know exist. Tap into the customer base regularly and noot only will your business do better, your customers will feel more empowered and connected to you as well.   
• Stay Open, Stay Ready: Whether it’s adapting your initial business plan or adjusting on the fly to nail a big pitch, you have to keep your eyes and ears open to opportunities and be ready too jump on them when they arise. 

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This season of the Journey is produced by Mission.org and brought to you by UPS. To learn how UPS can help your small business, go to UPS.com/pivot.