← Founder's Story
Founder's Story
From Breakouts to Breakthroughs: Waepril’s Rise to a 180K-Strong Skincare Community | Ep 207
00:21:46
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Daniel
Welcome back to Founders Story. Today we have Waporoll, aka April, a Canadian based beauty influencer with over 180000 followers on IG and focused mostly on something that is near and dear to my heart. But skincare and makeup. Now Waporo, I gotta say I don't tell anyone this, but I've been wearing makeup for many years. I, I don't call it makeup, I call it tinted sunscreen, but I guess it's technically, you know, makeup theoretically. So I am excited to talk through this, but I, I want to understand from your perspective as to why did you get into this, you know, why are you so passionate about it? And then how do you see being able to turn this into a business, you know, going from the social media side to the business side.
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April
To answer your first question, the real reason or the whole reason as to how I get into this business, whole beauty industry is when I was like in my fifth, like when I was in my teenager years, I actually had a lot of acne. And it's something that made me, you know, less confident as a person. Like I always stare at myself in the mirror and say, oh my gosh, like I have a new acne again. Like it's almost like every single day I'll get the new acne. And at that time, you know, I'm not very good at putting makeup but I bought some makeup to try, try to try my best to cover it up. But in the end of the day it just, you know, I'm not quite there. I'm not quite there. Like I wasn't a confident person. And so because of that, you know, because of my skin being bad during my teenage years, I start to learn the ingredients of different skincare products. You know, when they say acne prone skin within the acne prone skin, like you see, you know, thousands of products in the market, but then which one is for you? So I tried a lot of different products and some of them made my skin even worse. Like, I noticed that I even have more acne afterwards. So I'm like, okay, that didn't work. So I ended up trying out a lot of different products and eventually I realized it's actually the ingredients that matters. Like, the ingredients are the ones that really does something to your skin and you need to find the right ingredient that will work well for your skin. So that's kind of how I started this whole beauty industry idea. And which is why if you look at, you know, some of my Instagram posts, when I talk a lot, when I talk about the products, I talk a lot about the ingredients itself because those are the active ingredients, are the ones that actually make your skin like either better or worse. So it's kind of like, it's very important and I hope, you know, whoever, for the individuals who's like, passionate about the beauty industry, you know, looking at the ingredients is actually very important.
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Daniel
Well, I'm glad you bring that up. It, it can be very daunting for people.
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April
Right.
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Daniel
Like you said, I have acne, I have some acne scars still. You want to get rid of it. You, you, you see every advertisement, you know, before it'd be like TV advertisements, right? And then you, you try it and it doesn't work. Makes it worse. And then you're, you're more, you're less confident. You know, you're more thinking about the acne. It almost makes you stress, like, is really, it's really very daunting. So it's great to have someone like yourself who, who's actually trying it. It's like an unbiased perspective. Is that what you're, what you're seeing now from a lot of content creators is the ability for us to watch them try it?
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April
Yes, there are definitely a lot of beauty influencers who do that. Who, um, some of them like really has, you know, they used to have very bad skin and they show it from the video, like, look, I use, you know, product A for two to three weeks and now my skin has cleared up and my acne is gone. But acne prone skin can be very tricky because let's say you have acne, I have acne, but different ingredients will work for you. Different ingredients will work for me. So it's kind of like, it's a bit tricky. It's good to follow, like, it's good to watch followers. But in the end of the day, every skin, every individual has a different skin. Even though, you know, both of us have acne prone skin. Like, it could, it still could be different. So in the end of the day, it's important to try out the product on your own. Yeah.
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Daniel
So now you built a community. You built what sounds like amazing people who, who really look up to you. They, they watch what you're doing, they take the advice. What's the next phase for content creators once they start building this up, then what do they do next? Like, how do they really monetize? How do they turn it into a business?
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April
I think after growing a specific number of followers, the next step would be collaborations. So right now I will get, like, sometimes emails from, like, you know, brands that I love saying that, hey, we're launching in Canada. Like, you are one of the few beauty influencers that we want to ship our product to, you know, so you can, like, tell your audience about us launching. And the other one is paid collaborations. Smaller brands who are trying to get their name out there would love to work with bigger beauty influencers just to help get their brand, their products out there in the market space.
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Daniel
No, that's amazing. What do you. As if someone came to you and said, look, I, you know, I have 10 followers, I want to grow, I want to build a community. I'm passionate about. Xyz. Is there anything that you can, any tips or strategies that you can give them that worked for you in terms of, of being able to grow and create the community?
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April
Yes, for sure. So I think for me, when I started, it was hard because you post, you probably just get three views, five views, or even zero views, you know, just because you're starting, you only have five followers. But the most important thing is if you're passionate on something, you'll keep going. Like, don't just give up and say, oh, I only have five followers this month. I should just move on with my life. I think for me, the passion is really what got me here in, in this position. Because had I look, if I look back as to how I started, I could have easily told myself, you know what? This is not going to work out. I'm just going to give up and then do something else. But no, I didn't. Like, I told myself, you know what? I love what I'm doing. I'm going to keep going. I'm just going to keep posting and then look at, you know, trending reels, you know, kind of see what's going on in the market, like what's going on in the Instagram space, for example. It's like, oh, this thing, this kind of idea Is trending. You know, maybe create something similar. But to me, I like originality. Like, I would look at an idea, but eventually I'll make it into my own. Because to me, what's important is I want to be. I want people to look at a specific reel and say, oh, it's Waypro who created that reel. Not, oh, it's just the top trending, you know, top trending reel. I mean, it's good to be the top trending reel. But I always want people to say, oh, it's wafers real. You know, it's different. It. It almost has like my personality, my passion, my love into that real.
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Daniel
I really like the individuality. I think it's really easy to just copy trending stuff. Trending music, songs, dances, whatever it is, just do exactly what everyone else. But then what, you know, what separates you at that point, right? If you're just following along everyone else. So that's a great. And that I could. I could see from somebody's perspective that if only two people watch it, they get very discouraged and they stop. So what for you made you keep going. You know what? Because as we know, like you said, most people are doing this for free in the sense of no one's paying them to post on social media in the beginning. And then if you factor in their cost of their time, they're technically negative, right? In the beginning as they're. They're building up. So what for you encouraged you to keep going?
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April
I think for me. So when I started back in 2020, you know, it was Covid. I'm bored. I have a lot of time in my hands. So I started doing it for fun at first, but closer to like 2021. And this was the time when my dad was not feeling well. And also the year when he passed away, I remember it was all the catching because he, like, I was talking to him before he passed away, and I was telling him about, you know, I. I like doing what I'm doing. But he always tells me like, he, He's. He's good. Like, I always look up to my dad and he would always say, like, do whatever you want, right? Like, it's very important to get your passion out there. Because a lot of people out there, when they know, like, oh, I'm not earning enough money, I'm just gonna do something else in life. But he always tell me, you know, if this is something that you love, keep going. Like, don't just give up, right? Don't let five different people who said, oh, you're Real is, like, really bad. Like, don't let five bad comments discourage you. Like, always keep going. In the end of the day, it's your Instagram, it's your life. This is how you want to live your life. And this is kind of how I kept going. Like, I always remember that conversation that I had with my dad before it passed away.
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Daniel
So thank you for sharing. I mean, being so vulnerable is not always easy. Right? And so, of course, you know, my condolences to what happened. I can imagine that that's very hard. Did you feel then, in order to continue on, was social media a big part of that?
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April
Yes. So after my dad passed away, I actually stuck for a bit. Like, I think I gave myself a couple months. Like, I just, like, it's hard. Like, when you're so sad, it's hard to be joyful because, you know, when you create Instagram reel, you want to ooze out. At least I want to ooze out positive energy. It's like, hey, I'm using this product and I love it. Instead know, and I want to. I want to ooze positive energy. But after my dad passed away, it was very, very hard for me. So I kind of just, you know, I told myself, you know what? I'm going to give myself a couple months break, and I will come back, you know, with a better mindset and just really focus. I feel like before my dad passed away, I was really doing Instagram for fun. Like, just, you know, hey, I get freebies. You know, this is product A, product B. But after my dad passed away and after that conversation with my dad, that's the time when my mindset is very, like, clear of, like, I really want to get into this and I want to be successful, or at least I'm going to try my best to be successful.
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Daniel
It sounds like it really gave you the motivation. Yeah, you know, the. You know, it's. It's like sometimes the challenges in our life give us the most life lessons and motivation sometimes to move to something, something different. I'm curious. Something I see a lot of people doing when it comes to makeup, and I find this very fascinating is they'll talk about maybe something serious, or they'll talk about vacation trips and they're putting on makeup. What is this trend in terms of, like, you're doing, like, makeup or skincare, but you're talking about something completely different. This seems to be something. It's. It's continuing to catch on.
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April
Like, you mean ch. Like talking about makeup, but at the same time, Traveling. Is that kind of.
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Daniel
So they'll be, like, putting makeup on, or they'll be, like, doing some sort of skincare, but they're talking about something totally unrelated, like, has nothing to do with skincare, but it's like the act of putting makeup on. Like, they're filming themselves putting makeup on and talking about a. A vacation they went on. Was just watching this video about a woman talking about her vacation. But. But I see, like. But she's always doing videos with putting makeup on her skincare, but she's not talking about that. She's talking about something else. And I'm wondering about. Is this, like, a way to. To grab attention? I'm trying to figure out, like, what was the psychology around why I'm seeing people doing this. But they're not talking about the skincare, they're talking about something else.
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April
I think it's more like perspective and originality. Because if you're going into the social media space, it almost feels like it's very saturated, as, you know, as we know, like, it's very, very saturated space. If you're just going in and like, hey, this is product A, this is product B. It's like, well, 500 influencers have done that already. So it's almost like, hey, like, even me as an individual, like, I go, like, what would be something cool that people haven't done before? And then you just go with it. And sometimes, like, if I see, like, oh, it's the tough trending thing to do, I was like, maybe I should give it a try. So that's what I would do. Like, I would just, like, I think that is. The idea behind it is, like, trying to be original and not be lumped together as, like, you know, oh, you're just one of the 500 influencers that has done ABCDE. You know, at least that one's different. And they think it's fun. Plus it gives them a little bit of a personality to it that makes total.
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Daniel
Yeah, I mean, like you said, there's billions of people on social media. It's really hard to stand out many times, and it takes a lot of effort and energy. What is. I know YouTube is obviously TikTok has TikTok shop, and they've been, you know, crushing it. I've seen people do, like, a million dollars in a day selling on tickets. Insane numbers. Right? Which I know, like, in China and certain parts of Asia, that's kind of the norm, but it's more coming to the U.S. north America, Canada. I know YouTube just launched YouTube Shop or YouTube Commerce. I forget what they're, what they're calling it. How do you see the future of, you know, from your perspective as a content creator being able to obviously sell live and then if you have a brand, you know, using that brand with.
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Daniel
Do you see this whole social commerce thing playing out?
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April
I think there's definitely a huge potential to make it as a business because if you look at Amazon right now, they have an Amazon shop. And definitely like, I think after Covid, like during 2020, 2021, I start seeing Amazon shop growing their, like beauty products. And I think that's the idea behind it is because for us beauty influencers, like, especially, especially when you're starting off and you want to start earning commissions here and there, Amazon is actually a good place to kind of start, have a little bit of a website and then attach it and then put your commission links. And that is good for people who are starting, people who can't afford to have their own customized website yet at that time. So there's definitely a huge potential there when it comes to business and earning money.
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Daniel
You know, funny enough, not many people know this. Only really you, April and maybe two others. Yeah, back in 2015, I was doing skincare videos for Amazon Live and it was only me and Korean women. That's it. Me and Korean women. But the crazy thing though is nobody ever bought. It was very, very hard to convince people in the US at that time, a lot like thousands of people would watch these videos that I would put, but nobody ever would buy. And I was like, forget this. I should have followed your. I should have followed what you said. Because who knows, right? I could have, you know, a substantial amount of following, but I just quit after a few months that I got rid of it. But I am really inspired, though, by the fact that, you know, like you, you keep going, you continue building. You had, you know, some. You had a really dark moment that you turned around and used, you know, to continue going. I think, I think people I could tell you're very.
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Daniel
Or your fifth, you get more when.
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Daniel
You are yourself and I think People can see the authenticity in what you do, which is why you're continuing to build this community. So I know you have a new website out. Can you tell everyone where to go? And then also, of course, if people want to watch your videos, they want to follow you, they want to contact you, how can they do so?
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April
Yep, for sure. So I just launched a new website. It's called glambyapril.com so in that website like you get to see like, oh, the stuff that I've been working on. I've. I have a couple of YouTube videos. I just started YouTube though. So my main social media platform at the moment is Instagram. So you can either type in my real name, which is W A E P R I L, which is waporl. You can easily search my name or my Instagram handle is April. Underscore. Waporl. Underscore. Beauty.
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Daniel
What are some of your favorite products that you're using right now?
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April
So I, I have a lot of skincare products that I really love at the moment. So I don't know about you Daniel, but I do the double cleansing method. So. Double cleansing method. I don't want to go a little, I, I don't want to go too much on it. But basically the idea is you want to cleanse your face twice and the whole idea is because you want to first use an oil based cleanser to remove makeup and the second one is a water based cleanser to just further make sure that your face is clean. So the reason why I like the double cleansing method is because I find with makeup, makeup products typically contain both oil and water based ingredients. So when you just use a water based ingredient as a cleanser, like sorry, water based cleanser, sometimes you still leave some gunk on your face like it doesn't come off. So this is why I like the double cleansing method. I feel like it's the best to make sure that your skin is really clean. So my two favorite products for the double cleansing method is the one from Pharmacy Beauty. It's called the Double Cleansing Balm. Oil based cleanser but unscented, perfect for sensitive skin. So that will work on almost everybody. I have been using this product for a couple of years now and it has worked wonders. I cannot stop using the product. If I stop it just my skin is always almost gonna scream like what did you do differently? What did you do differently? You gotta go back. So that was the first product. The water based cleanser that I love at the moment is the one from IT Cosmetics. It's Called confidence in this cleanser. Water based. It's a water based serum cleanser. Super nourishing, super hydrating and at the same time it cleanses my face very effectively. So those are like my favorite cleanser. Favorite moisturizer is the one from Kiehl's. It's called the Ultra facial cream. Very, very popular product. And I like the fact that it's unscented and it's that moisturizer that I can use, you know, all four seasons and my skin feels moisturized because as you may know, when it comes to like winter time, typically you'd need a thicker cream. And then when it comes to summertime when our skin tends to be oily and greasy, we want something more water based. But I find with the Kiehl's Ultra facial cream, like you get to use it all year long. And my skin feels hydrated. It's just, it feels amazing. So that's why I keep talking about it because I'm like, I wish people would like give it a try. Like if, you know, if you, Daniel, or like any of the viewers who's watching this video haven't tried that product, like I would like suggest you to do so because I love it so much. But yeah. And the other favorite beauty product that I tried, which I'm highly recommending to a lot of ladies out there, is the YSL Lash class mascara. So that mascara recently launched, I would say a month ago. So it's a recently new product. But what I find is that the applicator one is amazing in like making your eyelashes look really volumized. It's one of the few that can do that. A lot of the things like in the drugstore, it doesn't do it, it doesn't go. It doesn't do it as well. But that one just like, oh my God, like, wow, I can see my lashes now because of my like, because I don't have a lot of lashes. So I can really see a big like noticeable difference. So yeah, there we go.
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Daniel
Well, there we go. We got the whole lesson. So we got to check out those four products.
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Yeah.
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Daniel
Wait, bro, this has been a lot of fun. Thank you again for being vulnerable today for sharing your story and sharing some tips and strategies that we can all take away. And I hope everyone checks out your website and then your, your social accounts as well. And thank you for joining us today on Founders Story.
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April
All right, sounds good. Yeah. Thank you, Daniel.
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