(Feature photo credit: https://thethirtyonepercent.com/)
This week we sit down with the Brown sisters, Letisha and Zeena, the founders of Brown and Coconut, a clean skin-care company aiming to help you improve your skin.
Tell me how Brown and Coconut came about?
L: We are super close but starting a business wasn’t something that we ever thought about doing together. It was something we fell into because we both went through periods of really bad skin. That bond brought us even closer when we started the journey to healing our skin together.
L: We tried all the popular acne products and they’d work for a period of time, but our acne was never cured and our skin was often left in worse shape than when we started – it was bad. We decided to try the natural skin care route because the regular drugstore skin care was just too harsh. We’d spend hours in Whole Foods learning about products and testing them on our skin. It was a difficult to transition to natural products on millennial budgets though. We just couldn’t afford $60 face wash. We even ran into issues where some products claimed to be clean and natural, but in fact still contained some potentially harmful ingredients. Even when we did find something that was moderately affordable and free from harmful ingredients, we’d find it contained a nut oil or other ingredient derived from nuts. Since I am allergic, those were a no-go too. We eventually decided to start experimenting and crafting our own products at home to have better control over the ingredients and save a bit of money. This led to us starting Brown and Coconut as a blog in 2013 to share our story and that started gaining traction. That clearly showed us that many people out there were experiencing the same struggles that we were so we made the decision sell our products. We officially launched Brown and Coconut in 2016. Now in 2018 we have a complete line of skin care made entirely of plant-based or earth-derived ingredients.
“To avoid losing your brand identity, you have to remember the foundation in which you built your business on and seek partnerships that complement that.”
Brown and Coconut, how did you come up with the name?
Z: Our last name is Brown and we both love coconuts. It was also a play-on words for “company”, Brown and “co”. We knew we wanted to use our last name, but it took time to get the brand name to fit our vision. It’s funny because people think we are a bakery because of our name, so it’s always funny when we get asked if we sell sweets. Interestingly enough, we don’t use coconut oil in our facial products given that it’s known to clog pores. We absolutely refuse to create anything that will contribute to acne or clogged pores. We do incorporate coconut oil in our body soap though, which is okay.
How did you start making your products and how did you know it would work for other people?
Z: We started in our kitchen. We researched and experimented and mixed different ingredients. We created multiple iterations before we were able to find the perfect formula. We gave the products to our family members to test and provide feedback. The product was tested by men and women of various ages, with and without acne. Based on their feedback, we made changes to create the perfect product.
While we know our products are beneficial, we do believe that there are other factors that contribute to bad skin, like your diet, and we advise people to pay attention to their lifestyle and look into harmful ingredients they are putting into their bodies because they both have an impact on your skin.
Transforming people’s skin? How does that contribute to the confidence factor?
L: It’s funny how things come full-circle. During my senior year of college, my skin freaked out. I had never had acne before, so when it happened my confidence tanked. People would ask me “are you ok, what’s wrong with your face? Do you need to go to the hospital?”. Having people stop you in the street, in the bathroom, on the subway, it was a constant for me. Everyone thinks they are an expert and want to help you. They have the best intentions, but they are only drawing more attention to your face – reminding me of what I already knew. I just wanted to hide from the world. Now, more than 10 years later, it’s a huge confidence boost to see products we’ve created help so many people. It’s like things came full circle.
What was the it like to launch a business? Walk me through that process.
Z: It definitely takes work, but our backgrounds helped a lot. Letisha has a degree in marketing and we both have 10 years of retail experience, some of it managerial. We used that to guide us; understanding the retail world and having business acumen helped. It took a lot of research too though, to fill in the gaps. There was so much we didn’t know. When we started, we made a bunch of decisions that I don’t think we’d make today, but you don’t know what you don’t know — until you experience it. We are able to make smarter and more strategic decision because of our previous mistakes.
L: We also learned that we don’t have to say “YES” to everything. In the beginning we jumped on any opportunity that presented itself, but today, we are much more clear on who we are as a business. We won’t make any decisions that lead us away from that identity. When in doubt, we go back to our mission and core values because not all opportunities will align with what we believe. Sticking to our values, makes it so much easier to make those difficult, business-related decisions. To avoid losing your brand identity, you have to remember the foundation in which you built your business on and seek partnerships that complement that.
“To see that our products brought those results and the joy and gratitude that comes with it is what drives us to continue to make clean, effective products.”
What advice do you have for women who have a tough time saying “NO”?
Z: I know for us, it’s been great to have a partner who can support you. A lot of times Letisha is the one who grounds me in these decisions. She has us take a step back and figure out how to respond and not make rash decisions. Plus, it’s easier to say no when there’re two of you already agreeing on the “NO”, you have someone in your corner.
L: We also leverage our business advisers and mentors to help guide us if we are on the fence about a decision, but ultimately sticking to our core values always gives more value to the answer “NO”.
What are your core values?
- Commitment to Our Customers
- Plant-based, earth-derived, safe ingredients
- Integrity
- Transparency
- Openness to growth, change, and innovation
As a business, are there plans to scale up? What’s the long-term goal for Brown and Coconut?
Z: We eventually would like to have a storefront in Boston, but at the moment we are happy with the slow and steady growth. A lot of businesses want to grow rapidly and in doing so they lose sight of their purpose and ultimately the brand suffers. Growing at a steady rate allows time to make necessary adjustments to meet the needs of our consumers. Our consumers are our number one priority and we want to ensure that they are receiving the quality service that they deserve.
Who’s your target audience?
L: Brown and Coconut is for the ingredient-conscious individual looking to make an investment in themselves, but might not have a huge budget. Our customers are mostly women, ages 25-45. Generally speaking, the Whole Foods consumer would be our typical consumer base.
One of your products is face oil? Is that for people with dry skin?
L: Absolutely! However, the right oil can also be beneficial to oily skin. Since launching Brown and Coconut though, we have found that people are still afraid of oils. In fact, educating our audience about facial oils is something that we try to tackle. For example, some may not know that oily skin can actually be a result of dry skin that is overproducing oil as a way to compensate. When you apply the correct oils to oily (or dry) skin it helps you balance back out.
Z: Those that do use our Hydrating Face Oil love it because of its aromatic scent – it has this therapeutic, spa feeling.
How do you tackle allergies?
Z: We make sure when we are sourcing our ingredients that we are avoiding top allergens. Will the masses be able to enjoy this? We take a long time to get a new product out on the market because we want to make sure anything that we sell is absolute quality and will work for our customers.
What’s been the most rewarding part of this journey?
Z: The most rewarding thing for us is getting before- and after-pictures from our customers. To see that our products brought those results and the joy and gratitude that comes with it is what drives us to continue to make clean, effective products.
L: We truly believe in Brown and Coconut and genuinely want to help our customers, so conversing back and forth with someone, whether it’s about their skin woes, skin care routine, or experiences with our products is really the most exciting part of Brown and Coconut, for me.
Check out Zeena’s 5 tips for healthy skin.
Brown and Coconut is offering 20% off their products for Black Friday, (plus a free gift) don’t miss out! Sale ends 11/26
