How Backlash Turned Into a Billion-Dollar Brand Play ft. Isabella Chams

Summary

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The Art of the Brand

Episode: How Backlash Turned Into a Billion-Dollar Brand Play ft. Isabella Tams

Date: January 13, 2026

Host: Third Eye Insights (Camille Moore & Phillip Millar)
Guest: Isabella Tams (Founder, Bella Beauty)

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the meteoric rise of Bella Beauty, a Colombian beauty brand founded by Isabella Tams, and how the company transformed initial backlash into an engine for growth and brand loyalty. Broadcasting directly from an electrifying Bella Beauty pop-up in Bogotá, the hosts and Isabella dissect world-building, product strategy, the power of controversy, and the unique challenges of launching a premium brand in an emerging economy. This is a must-listen for business owners interested in branding, marketing, community-building, and turning adversities into opportunities.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins and Vision of Bella Beauty

• Isabella recounts her roots: Born in Barranquilla, former queen of Colombia’s famed carnival—a non-pageant, cultural ambassador role.
• Meeting her husband, Ricky: An entrepreneur who inspired a venture into beauty, leveraging both their passions for quality and aesthetics.
• Dedication to excellence: “If we are going to do the things, we're going to do them the right way. No shortcuts.” (Isabella, 00:00)
• Not just an influencer brand: Isabella sought to move beyond "influencer branding," aspiring to create a world-class product not reliant on her personal fame.

  “I didn’t want to be like a full time influencer. Like, I didn’t want that to be my whole life without a purpose. Yeah, I knew I wanted to be a brand owner.” (Isabella, 00:06:46)

2. Building a Distinctive Brand in an Unsaturated Market

• Market gap: Lack of homegrown premium brands for women who take beauty very seriously.

  “You're doing a brand at the Hourglass, the merit, the summer Fridays level, but there's nobody else in the country or Latin America doing this.” (Host, 00:12)

• Brand positioning: High-quality, premium but accessible luxury—bridging the gap between low-cost and unaffordable foreign brands.
• Focus on sensory and emotional experience:

  “We want, when you think of Bella Beauty, like to think of this magic and this fantasy world... you're getting into Bella's world.” (Isabella, 09:17)

3. Brand Activation: Immersion and Community

• Pop-up magic: Literally thousands queued for the immersive Bella Beauty pop-up, underscoring brand obsession.
• Influencer and community engagement:

  “It was hilarious. No one spoke English until I had many lip glosses. Then the whole line is bilingual.” (Host, 15:01)

• World-building as loyalty engine: Customers are “part of the Bella Club,” fostering a sense of belonging akin to a movement or religion.

4. Navigating Controversy and Backlash

• Price point criticism: Launch sparked viral backlash over ‘high’ prices in Colombia—yet products still sold out.

  “People went crazy. Bad, bad. It was bad. People were. Who does she think she is?... But at the same time, sales were crazy.” (Isabella, 17:37)

• Product name controversy: A lip liner named “foie gras” (considered problematic for a cruelty-free brand) created another viral moment.
• Turning adversity into traction: Instead of damaging the brand, backlash drove curiosity, conversation, and sales.

  “People wanted to bring the brand down. And no, it was just like only the beginning. Like, our sales were better than ever. Every launch has been better than the last.” (Isabella, 21:33)

5. Quality and Authenticity as Differentiators

• Obsession with perfection: Two years in development, working with top labs in Europe and the US, focusing on healthy, innovative formulas, and luxury packaging.

  “We wanted to do the best work possible. We went to the best labs, found the best chemists... we had to give them the best.” (Isabella, 04:15)

• Transparency: Sharing behind-the-scenes content, manufacturing process, and campaign development builds trust and deepens customer connection.

6. Marketing and Product Launch Strategy

• Theatrics and mystery: Each product launch is a “full-blown operation,” with elaborate videos and storytelling that blend fantasy with education about the product.
• Scarcity and exclusivity: Strategic product drops at physical events create status appeal and encourage viral participation online.
• Responsiveness: Adjustments made in real-time, such as expanding limited edition launches after fan demand.

7. Global Ambitions & Brand Philosophy

• Dreaming global, executing locally: Expansion plans throughout Latin America and the US, but only after perfecting local operations.

  “When we get into other countries, we want to make a statement.” (Isabella, 26:10)

• Ultimate mission:

  “To put Colombian beauty on the world map.” (Isabella, 35:22)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Brand Integrity:

  “We do not do shortcuts.” (Isabella, 05:50)

• On Facing Backlash:

  “Who does she think she is? Like, we're not paying these prices, but at the same time, sales were crazy.” (Isabella, 17:37)

• On Community:

  “They are part of the Bella Club. And I love that.” (Isabella, 14:57)

• On Turning Critique Into Loyalty:

  “I hated that I criticized her two days ago, but now that it arrived, I love this lip liner. It's worth it.” (Isabella, 20:17)

• On Impact of Controversy:

  “Controversy... took the brand to a different level and it allowed more people to want to try the product when you were not trying to be negative or insult anyone.” (Host, 21:58)

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Noteworthy Segments (Timestamps)

• [00:00–07:08] Isabella’s personal story and vision for Bella Beauty
• [08:52–10:52] Market gap and premium positioning in Colombia
• [11:45–13:44] World-building, pop-ups, and community loyalty
• [17:29–21:33] First viral controversy: pricing and product naming (“foie gras”)
• [23:14–25:45] Harnessing controversy for earned media and community defense
• [26:10–28:50] Global expansion ambitions and execution challenges
• [32:11–34:00] Isabella’s rapid-fire marketing and content strategies
• [35:06–36:13] Final ambitions and wrap-up

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Brand Takeaways

• Stand for Quality: Relentless focus on product excellence converts skeptics and creates loyalists.
• World-Building: Creating a fantasy around the brand experience is as vital as the product itself.
• Embrace (Some) Controversy: Turning adversity into advantage—if handled authentically—can rally communities and drive sales.
• Community First: Invest in real relationships with fans; reward and include them at every opportunity.
• Market Responsiveness: Flexibility and transparency keep the brand authentic and beloved when things go wrong or demand shifts.

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Ideal for Listeners Who Want to...

• Learn how to navigate and leverage backlash as a young brand.
• Understand the intricacies of launching luxury in emerging economies.
• See why community and narrative matter just as much as product.
• Gain inspiration for founder-led, mission-driven brand-building.

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Transcript

[Isabella Tams]

If we are going to do the things, we're going to do them the right way. No shortcuts. I didn't want to be like a full time influencer. Like, I didn't want that to be my whole life without a purpose. Yeah, I knew I wanted to be a brand owner.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, you're doing a brand at the Hourglass, the merit, the summer Fridays level, but there's nobody else in the country or Latin America doing this. You don't have brands speaking to women that are so focused on beauty in their country.

[Isabella Tams]

We were viral about our prices. Let's take this brand down. I was waiting for Isabella to do something bad, like, to bring her down. And no, it was just like, only the beginning. Like, our sales were better than ever. Every launch has been better than the last.

[Podcast Host]

I've actually tried, like, every single beauty brand and you guys go toe to toe with the best beauty brands in the market, period. Full stop, 100%.

[Isabella Tams]

And I know it's like a high price for people here in Colombia, but it's actually a good price to the quality that we're giving to them.

[Podcast Host]

Yes. It's such a masterclass in, like, when you spend the people will come. I'm in Bogota, Colombia, right now at a brand activation. I've never seen anything like this before. There is literally thousands of people waiting outside to come into this pop up. And I'm here with Isabella Tams, the founder of Bella Beauty. And I'm so excited to break down this case study because what you guys have built is crazy.

[Isabella Tams]

Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here speaking with you and I'm so excited you're here in Colombia.

[Podcast Host]

It's honestly been such a blast. Like, Colombia, like, is such a gem. The food has been incredible. The style has been incredible. The people have been so lovely. I know. So stylish. It's a little overwhelming, actually. Like, the style is really quite good.

[Isabella Tams]

That's what describes us. Like, Colombians are so, like, nice people.

[Podcast Host]

Fun people, beautiful, fashionable. Like good taste. Exactly like it's good taste. So is this your first English podcast?

[Isabella Tams]

Actually, yes. First English podcast. I'm a little nervous, but we're good.

[Podcast Host]

Well, we have our mimosas here, so it's definitely. It's definitely going to get better as we go longer throughout this episode, but as we kick it off. So, guys, I do a lot of work in beauty. I do a lot of work in fashion, and I've never seen seen a beauty brand like this. There's so many interesting aspects to unpack the lack of competition, how, like, you've built this world, that people are like, it's only a two year old company.

[Isabella Tams]

Bella Beauty is a Colombian brand. It's a beauty brand. I've always been so passionate about beauty. Well, to start everything, I have to tell you, like, my story. I was born in Barranquilla, Colombia. That's a city in Colombia. And there's a huge carnival. Like, actually it's the second largest carnival in the world. And it's like the best celebration in the world. And I was the queen, like six years ago. And it's not a beauty thing. It's not like beauty queen, like a pageant pageant. No, it's more like a cultural thing. So you just have to like, show the world what's in our city and what makes us special. So. So when I was in that world, I was like around so much beauty, but not only there, like growing up in Barranquilla, like, people here are so, like you said, so stylish. They care so much about vanity. They are always like looking good. So I grew up in that environment and I've always been around beauty. But it only was until I met Ricky, my husband. Well, he was my boyfriend at that time and. And he's been an entrepreneur his whole life. He had like, cookie shops, like really huge cookie shops all around Colombia, Panama.

[Podcast Host]

Branding.

[Isabella Tams]

Yes. And when we started dating, he was like, what should we do together? Cool. And I've been always, like, obsessed with beauty, like makeup, skincare, hair care.

[Podcast Host]

Look at her hair.

[Isabella Tams]

And he was like, let's do something together. Let's start this. And I was like, definitely, we have to go into makeup. But one thing about us is that if we are going to do the things, we're going to do them the right way. No shortcuts.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Isabella Tams]

So we had to do the best work possible. We went to the best labs, found the best chemists, and like, Colombia has one of the most beautiful women in the world. Literally, we had to give them the best. So that's what we did. And that's how we started this journey.

[Podcast Host]

It's really cool because the, the, the carnival queen, which I've learned is you kind of like represent Colombia to the world. So you have to, like, kind of embody all things Colombian. Like, you're, you're beautiful. It'd be well spoken. You dance like you're, you. You are like, literally you go and visit the world as like the icon of Colombia. And you're also from where Shakira and Sophia Gara are from. So it's probably also like, the center point of the most beautiful Colombian women.

[Isabella Tams]

Well, all Latin American women are beautiful, so.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, that's really, really interesting. So you guys decided to get into beauty and. But it was. But how did you get people to notice you? Like, how did you guys get people to, like, stand out?

[Isabella Tams]

I think we. We waited two years to launch the brand.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Isabella Tams]

And we really made sure that we had every detail perfect. Wow. Like, we wanted to launch with a huge video, like, telling the story, showing the people that we went, we traveled, we developed, like, on the lab, the best labs in Europe, in the United States. Well, all Sephora brands, like, developed their product. Yeah. Yeah. We repeated each product so many times so that it was perfect, or at least perfect for me so that I can perfect products.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Isabella Tams]

I got the highest level. We did not take any shortcuts. We spent two years perfecting the brand. Every detail, every ingredient. We do makeup that has skincare ingredients. I think it's good for you at the same time that it looks beautiful. And we wanted, like, really to invest in every little thing. We do not do shortcuts.

[Podcast Host]

Well, that's like, what was so crazy is so you were like, you were. You're locally famous in the country for being this carnival queen, but you, when you wanted to launch a product, you didn't want to just be like an influencer launching a product. Like, you want this to be a world brand, which is somewhere where you've kind of struggled in your personal brand too, because you don't want to, like, you're not trying to leverage the carnival queen. You're actually an expert in beauty and you've also traveled the world. Like, you've spent your life traveling the world. Like, you. Both you and your husband are super cultured. Like, you're not developing like a Colombian brand as an influencer. This is like a world brand that is happening to start in Colombia.

[Isabella Tams]

Exactly. That's what I wanted to do. Ever since, like, the carnival stopped, I was like, I had no idea what to do with my life. Like, I. I didn't want to be, like a full time influencer. Like, I love to post my life. I love to post my videos, my little TikTok vlogs. I love to do that. But I didn't want to be, like, I didn't want that to be my.

[Podcast Host]

Whole life without a purpose.

[Isabella Tams]

Yeah. I knew I wanted to be a brand owner.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Isabella Tams]

So this was perfect. And now I just show my life. I show what I want. Like, my, my Trips my beauty secrets. Like everybody loves to see, like my makeup vlogs. And I'm just happy like to show everything that's behind Bella Beauty, like where we shoot our campaigns, where we like get everything done, when we go to the labs, when we travel to make new products, like when we find new ingredients. And I'm happy with that life.

[Podcast Host]

Well, it's also cool too because when you analyze like the best brands, like this week I talked about like guests in residence of Gigi Hadid or like Victoria Beckham Beauty, like you're not using your fame to sell the product. The product is good on its own and you have a founder led brand. So you guys have to like navigate both as like people. I got to interview like people in the crowd yesterday and it's. People love you, but it's not just you. Like, the brand on its own is fantastic. Which I think a lot of business owners struggle with is they, they, they don't know how to put themselves out there or they're so good at putting themselves out there, but the quality of the product suffers.

[Isabella Tams]

Yeah. And I knew, you know, there's a good thing, like I appear in my campaigns. We like to like do this movies, this short movies and do like a mystery around what's the product. But the brand works on its own.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Isabella Tams]

Like if I don't appear like for two weeks, the brand does well as it on its own.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Well, that's why I thought this was so fascinating is like you had all of the right elements in a market that isn't oversaturated. Like, that's like the coolest thing is like in talking to the people in the crowd like you're doing a brand at the Hourglass, the merit the summer Fridays level. But there's nobody else in the country or Latin America doing this.

[Isabella Tams]

Yeah. And that was something that Ricky and I like, looked that we had so many, we have so many like brands that are like at a lower price. They're beautiful brands, but they're at a lower price. And then we have like this really expensive, like European.

[Podcast Host]

No, like Dior. There's nothing for Colombian women made by Colombian.

[Isabella Tams]

There was not much like makeup, like at a medium level. Like this prestige brand.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Isabella Tams]

So we wanted to create that and just like literally give them the best like luxury packaging with amazing quality formulas and just like have this world of Bella Beauty. Because we want, when you think of Bella Beauty, like to think of this magic and this fantasy world that for example, when you get into this pop up, we want you to get in. You get in through an elevator. So when you get into the elevator, we want you to think that you're getting out of this world. You're getting out of Bogota. We're here in Bogota right now. You're getting out and you're getting into Bella's world.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Isabella Tams]

That's what I want people to feel when they use the brand.

[Podcast Host]

It's. You're right. It's so fascinating because when I landed on Tuesday at 6, 10 in the morning, I go to the. Go to use the washroom and the entire washroom, all of the sinks, there was like 17 sinks.

[Isabella Tams]

Women doing their full face of makeup. That's Colombian. It's their full.

[Podcast Host]

So focused on like, presentation and looking good and, and even in scouting, where this pop up is. Is kind of in like the Times Square of Bogota, like, it's kind of like the most centralized point. And I've been looking at a lot of the beauty brands and you're right. And it's. It's not that Bella Beauty is medium tier. It's that you have bluntly, like cheap drugstore brands and then you have westernized brands like the Chanel Booty, the Dior Boutet. You don't have brands speaking to women that are so focused on beauty in their country. So that's where there's this gap of you're definitely premium. And I want to talk about that because it was ballsy to like, come in with a great price point with a great product in a market that hasn't seen it, but, like, it's working.

[Isabella Tams]

Yeah. And I know it's like a high price for people here in Colombia, but it's actually a good price to the quality that we're giving to them.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. The thing that's crazy is it's, it's proof in the success of the brand. Like, you've only existed for two years and like they did a post like three weeks ago, they like gave away these like, influencer boxes and to influencers and they had an extra one that they were going to like, give to the peeps. And they had 600,000, over 600,000 comments of people asking for the influencer. But I also do want to talk about, like, how you. Because I think a lot of it comes down to the world building and how you develop the brand. Like, yes, there was like product market fit. Yes, you had a name and you had a platform. But I think that that is minimizing when you look at your like, total strategy and how you've launched that. Let's talk about, like, how you guys have marketed and branded the product.

[Isabella Tams]

So every time we launch a product, it is a full blown operation. We do movies for our launches and we try to keep like this mystery of what's the next launch. And at the end of the video, like we discovered and everything is at this Bella fantasy world that we try to live in. Like we're right now in Bella's world. And first we focus on that and after that we try to explain, like the benefits of the product, the ingredients and how good it works and makes you feel. Like everything in Bella Beauty is super sensorial. Like how the textures feel, how it feels on your skin. Like everything is super creamy, super blendable, super glowy.

[Podcast Host]

It's such a masterclass in, like, when you spend the people will come and it's. I think it's really hard for brands that are in saturated spaces to justify going all out. But you enter such a masterclass and when you do everything at the highest level, people will notice and people will flock to you.

[Isabella Tams]

Yeah, exactly. Like we do. We love to do this great PR boxes for all the influencers. Then we gift some of the people, we like to do, like gift so many products. Like two times a day in Bella's wonderland, we have this huge carton with some of our pure boxes gifts. And at some point we're like, okay, we're giving the big Bella prize. And people yesterday went crazy. So there was a girl who wanted the makeup bag or the luggage and she was like, really nervous trying to decide what. And all her friends were like, choose the luggage, choose the luggage. We have a clip of that, right? It was hilarious. And they, then they were all celebrating like, I'm going to travel a lot with this luggage. That was the best moment of yesterday. And when we went to the back of the line, people waiting for five hours. I know people have been waiting for five hours. I'm so grateful that people have waited so much. But you know what's a good thing that everybody who entered told me it was worth it. Like the five hours in line were totally worth it.

[Podcast Host]

But another thing you guys did right is you made sure that everyone that stood in line got in. Like, you really do care about like world building and investing back into your customer base. But the reason why that point is so fascinating is what Bella Beauty is doing. Although they're positioned as like premium accessible luxury, they're so invested in providing such like this, this generous world that you want to work hard to be a part of. So yesterday, it's so sweet. Isabella has like her sister here and they bring out that what she was saying, like the card and it was like, like literally like one of the UFC girls and they like do this twice a day and they bring these like fantastic presents that you can't get. A lot of these like USA brands here and like the whole swarm. There's probably like 100 people in here. We're like helping this girl that won on like dealer no deal pick her prize. You can tell that it's a community. The reason why I wanted to do this, this episode is when I talk about Bella Beauty to the clients we work with that can be like really prestigious, like well known beauty brands. They don't have this level of community and buy in and it. That's how you win in the current landscape. Like, you have to have people that are like, you know, when you're like when you follow a religion, like, you're kind of. You're a part of something bigger than yourself. It's not quite a fan. Like, it's something. It's a kind of more.

[Isabella Tams]

They're a part of this. They are part of the Bella Club. And I love that.

[Podcast Host]

It was like, even like I was like interviewing people in the line. It was hilarious. No one spoke English until I had many lip glosses. Then the whole line is bilingual. Like literally thousands of people. Like, I speak English now.

[Isabella Tams]

No way.

[Podcast Host]

But it was so cool because the answers from. From all of them was exactly what you're saying. It's like an obsession on quality, an obsess on detail, an obsession on building a world that like they brands don't. They don't take them seriously.

[Isabella Tams]

And I want it to be something they feel a part of because we would be nothing without a vimp.

[Podcast Host]

No 100%.

[Isabella Tams]

Like, I mean, they're outside waiting for us to end this podcast to come in and feel like the Bella world, the magic.

[Podcast Host]

But I also though the reason why this is so interesting is I do want to touch on like the comments you get of like the cultural nuance of an emerging economy and how these women want these beauty products. Like how special your community to your brand.

[Isabella Tams]

Look, I would love everybody in Colombia to be able to buy my brand. I grew up here. I understand. I am a really sensitive person. But in order to make my brand worth it, like we have some of the most beautiful women in the world. I wanted to make what was the best for them. And in order to do that, we couldn't do shortcuts. So we went to look for the best labs for the best chemists. And, I mean, we do get, like, really expensive, luxurious brands here. But people have felt a connection to Bella Beauty that they choose us. And I'm really grateful for that. And I'll work every day harder to make the best for them because, like.

[Podcast Host]

You legit have comments on your page of, like, I waited, like, I saved up all year to get this product, and it. It's also caused quite a bit of controversy in the country, too.

[Isabella Tams]

I know. And, you know, that's a lot of pressure for me, but it makes me happy and I'm calm to know that I'm offering good quality stuff for them that will last and will work.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Isabella Tams]

So everybody that tries our products, some of them tell us they made an effort, but they're actually happy with the product. And they tell me they would buy it again. So that makes me so happy. And it's. It makes everything worth it.

[Podcast Host]

Totally. It's totally worth it. I mean, it's. You also, when you have lines up like it's your second day and there's literally thousands of people outside, like, it shows you you're onto something real. But let's talk about the controversy that you went into, because you are literally, like, the least controversial person. But you guys have faced some serious heat.

[Isabella Tams]

I know. So at the beginning, when we first launched the brand, like, we launched the brand. We announced the brand two days before we started selling.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Isabella Tams]

And everybody was hyped. Like, everybody was so happy posting it everywhere. Like, this is going to be huge. We're so proud. And two days after we posted our prices and people went nuts. Like, we were viral about our prices. People went crazy. Bad, bad. It was bad. People were. Who does she think she is? Like, we're not paying these prices, but at the same time, sales were crazy. Yeah. Like, everybody was buying. Like, I was so scared, but Ricky was like, why are you scared? Why are you sad? Why are you crying? If we're selling this much, like, this is going to be a huge success.

[Podcast Host]

Well, because controversy is hard. It's hard.

[Isabella Tams]

I know.

[Podcast Host]

Like, it's. You take it so personally. And like, every bad comment, it, like, cuts you like a knife. And it's like, it's so hard to separate what you're seeing versus what you're experiencing. So controversy has actually been quite profitable for you.

[Isabella Tams]

You know what's another thing I'm really grateful for? Like, normally influencer brands do really good when they launch, like, the first day, and then they decrease. Like, we were really good the first Day. But ever since we've made a launch, since that time, we've been going up, like. Then we had another controversy.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, let's break it down. This one's a good one.

[Isabella Tams]

Okay. So when we launched our lip liners, we've had already, like, done, like, four lunches. Four different lunches or more. And we always like to do creative things. Our. Our product names are named after food, so we wanted to do something different, like, not the typical food names. And I was like, let's do fine cuisine. Food, like, fancy food. So we did caviar, we did truffle. And one of the names, well, it was a pink lip liner shade. And Ricky and I, my husband, we were like, what should we name it? And it was foie gras. And I mean, at the time, we didn't think anything about it. You were, like, controversial. No, not at all. Like, that's the pink. Perfect name for a pink lip liner. Let's do it.

[Podcast Host]

It's bougie. It rolls off the top. And that's another thing, too, is, like, you guys have done these names that are, like, exotic food names.

[Isabella Tams]

And people love her name. Every time they see, like, an Amarin de Lato, or we have this one that's called Pitaya Punch. Every time they see a pitaya, like a dragon fruit that's pink, they send me a picture. Oh, my God, this reminds me of Tala, and I love that. Okay, so coming back to the point. So the first controversy was about the price again. Like, who does she think she is for a lip liner at this price? And, like, I mean, it was a different lip liner.

[Podcast Host]

Like, the best lip liner.

[Isabella Tams]

So creamy, you had to go right down. It's an amazing formula done in Germany.

[Podcast Host]

It's fine.

[Isabella Tams]

And people. But people went crazy as soon as we launched that price. And they went crazy, crazy, crazy. Then the people started trying it, and they were like, oh, my God, this is worth it. I love the lip liner. I hated that I criticized her two days ago, but now that it arrived, I love this lip liner. It's worth it. So they wanted something more, like, to bring the brand down.

[Podcast Host]

But the is that nobody knew what foie gras was. Some of them, they had to start googling it, and it wasn't really, like.

[Isabella Tams]

And I know we really messed up in this point. And, like, a good thing about being in this business is, like, acknowledging when you have to change something. So we changed that name.

[Podcast Host]

I don't think you should have, though.

[Isabella Tams]

Well, okay, we changed that name already. We Already changed it for the next production. And people didn't care. Like, two weeks later they didn't care more.

[Podcast Host]

But that's why. And like, that's why this is like such. I wanted Isabella to talk about this on the podcast because you guys got in insane amount of earned media value.

[Isabella Tams]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Like the Internet popped off. They're like, they're a cruelty free brand and they're naming it this. And have you seen this? And, and it, it allowed for people to talk about something that they might not have talked about at that level.

[Isabella Tams]

And you know something people like, were saying, this is the end of the brand. Let's take this brand down. I was waiting for Isabella to do something bad, like, to bring her down. And no, it was just like only the beginning. Like, our sales were better than ever. Every launch has been better than the last. And everybody wanted to buy the lip liner just to do a TikTok video and try it. And everybody that tried it loved it. Yes.

[Podcast Host]

No, but that's like why controversy is so hard to stomach when you're a well intentioned, good person wanting to launch a quality product. Like, often there isn't many of us that want to walk around that just want to be like political or say something crazy that makes the Internet pop off. But it absolutely took the brand to a different level and it allowed more people to want to try the product when you were not trying to be negative or insult anyone. Like, it was an, it was an honest mistake. But by doing something like that, by like venturing out doing something new, unique and different, like, we have the line to prove it, like, you've transformed the brand.

[Isabella Tams]

And I was so scared that in the next launch people would criticize something else or something. So the next launch were the cream blushes, the one you've tried love.

[Podcast Host]

I got them on right now. I got the new one that razzle. I love them on my cheeks right now.

[Isabella Tams]

Amazing.

[Podcast Host]

And that was wicked. That went out so well.

[Isabella Tams]

Crazy. That went so well. We did an amazing video.

[Podcast Host]

Oh my God, this video was crazy. Like, it was. You've never seen anything like it. And you're like, keep watching to the video and like, you wait to kind of be sold and then like, the storyline keeps going and you have no idea what's happening and you think you're in like Cirque du Soleil.

[Isabella Tams]

And we're like in smoothies, because those are named after smoothies. So we, we always try to involve like the food that it's named after in all of our videos. And then like we start to say, why is the product actually good?

[Podcast Host]

Well, what's also interesting too is like, when you look at the, like the outcome of what came from the controversy. It was funny. We were even talking to our, one of our in house video editors is from Venezuela and even her narrative was, you know, Bella Beauty. They get caught up in this controversy and it's not their fault. She's such a good person. Their quality of their products are so good. Like, you now have people that are loyally defending you and like, that's what you want as a brand. That you don't want people to feel just like neutral about you because if they don't feel anything about you and everything that you do is just like bland and vanilla, nothing works because you don't, you don't have impact. Like, it doesn't cut through. And like, as a social brand, that's why controversy is king in a way that makes sense and is on brand.

[Isabella Tams]

Yeah. For example, now we just launched three new shades, the one you're wearing actually, and we launched them specially for Bella's Wonderland for the public. And people are crazy. What part of them are so mad?

[Podcast Host]

No, they're literally fabulous. The reason why I also wanted to do this podcast is this is a brand for you guys to take notice of, for you to see, like how to build a brand in the current landscape because they have everything stocked up against them, but also everything working for them. And it's such a cool test market to see how the human psychology responds, responds to like well done marketing and branding. But when they sent me the products, it, they were, they were standalone fantastic products, like the Colombian story, like your platform, like that is all like an additional to a fantastic product, which is also what usually people cut corners on. Like, they assume that they have enough that they don't have to obsess on it. And that's like the difference between a brand that comes and goes and a brand that lasts. I've actually tried like every single beauty brand and you guys go toe to toe with the best beauty brands in the market, period, full stop, 100%.

[Isabella Tams]

No, I know. We do all the effort and work with all the right people, like, to make this brand competitive. Like in the US that's like our goal to launch there. And the proof is in Colombians take beauty so seriously.

[Podcast Host]

So seriously.

[Isabella Tams]

And they love the brand.

[Podcast Host]

No, I think that's why it's like a good litmus test for the rest of the world. Because these are women that like, like stereotypically take beauty extremely Seriously. So, like, if it works in a market with such high standards, Also, the global brand of, like, Colombian women are known to be beautiful, are known to be independent, are known to be powerful. So that global brand works for the business, for your trajectory, which tell me about. What is your vision? Like, where do you want to go? Where do you. Where do you want this? What are your goals?

[Isabella Tams]

Well, actually, I want to expand through Latin America, get into the US get into the whole world, get into Sephora. Well, actually, that's my goal. That's our.

[Podcast Host]

Sephora is. Sephora is Mecca.

[Isabella Tams]

Yeah, that's our next goal right now. Then we'll have bigger goals.

[Podcast Host]

Got it. Bigger goals of Sephora. What is your challenge, though, with getting the products into the rest of Latin America? Like, is it hard to diversify through the countries?

[Isabella Tams]

Okay, so the thing is, we're very perfectionist, and we want to consolidate the brand here in Colombia first, have the operation, like, working perfectly to then go into other countries. And we like to go big. Like, when we get into other countries, we want to make a statement. We can just do, like, shipping to other countries, but we want to do something important every time we enter and we expand to a link to a new country. Like, we could do shipping to the US Right now, but when we enter to the US we want to do, like, a big statement, a big event, like, to every. Like, for everyone to know that Bella Beauty got into the U.S. well, I think, like, a.

[Podcast Host]

What a great takeaway is for the brand is, like, you're so focused on your position in market, like, your marketing message, your. Your brand perception. Like, that is what's making what you've done in two years insane is because it's so focused when it's so easy to cut corners when you see the dollars. What have been some of the biggest challenges in starting this brand, launching this brand, living this brand, all of the things.

[Isabella Tams]

Well, first for us is making things happen like we want, and we have to make things happen. And that's been really hard, but we're achieving it. And I think the biggest challenge has been, like, to work with these big labs that work with the best brands and most recognized brands in the world and make them pay attention to us. When we were nothing, when we were just, like, a starting brand, and to make things happen with them and get, like, the best formulas, we're developing formulas from zero. Like, it's so easy being in the beauty industry. Just formula that already exists. So my husband's a chef. Ingredients for him matter, so ingredients here matter. Too. We wanted to make everything perfect, find the best clinically proven ingredients that actually work at a level that works, not on a marketing level. Like, it's so easy to make fast food. We wanted to do signature dishes, but.

[Podcast Host]

In makeup, it's actually really true. Like how I see it in the brands that I've worked with. Like a new brand will come out with lip gloss and then they just like ship the lip gloss to China. They like analyze the formulation, they can change like one off thing and then they can basically relaunch like a product that already exists in market. Like, it's very costly and a big risk to go in and like develop your own product lines in a market where it's so like it's never. People don't realize, like, it's never been easier. That's also why branding can be so dangerous. Because like the right packaging on, on a product, like it's not the best product. It's just like the right shell.

[Isabella Tams]

And that's why we try to do luxury packaging. Because for me, packaging is really important. I want it to look pretty everywhere. And the formula, for example, the lip gloss is our hero product. And for me, before I started the brand, every lip gloss, every lip product, like, make my lips chapped. And this one really works. Like, it has so many good ingredients. It has maxi lip, vitamin E, shea butter, and it really hydrates your lips. Like it's a treatment for your lips and it makes them like voluminous, more juicy. And it works over time. Like, it really is the best.

[Podcast Host]

It's like a literally it's a fat formulation. Like, it is fat. What color are you wearing?

[Isabella Tams]

I'm wearing cupcake right now.

[Podcast Host]

I'm wearing my favorite baklava. The hot. This is like what chicks are lining up for right now is the baklava lip gloss. Like, honestly, I could probably get a house built in like four hours if I just had like a tray of baklava. Like these women would like, like would haul me home. Like they are prepared to do anything for this lip and you can only.

[Isabella Tams]

Have it at this pop up. So people so smart are coming, like to ask for it. But people in other cities are crazy. They're attacking me because they want to.

[Podcast Host]

Well, let's come out after Monday, so let's talk about the strategy. So because this is actually really intelligent that they've done.

[Isabella Tams]

So we launched three products especially for Bella's Wonderland, because we wanted to do something special for the people who came here. But people attacked me. Like, they literally are losing it. Are losing it because they want to be able to buy it and if they don't live in Bogota, what are they going to do? So we just decided like, actually this is new, that we're going to launch it on Monday for everyone to be able to buy it because we want to make everyone happy. So this is a secret right now.

[Podcast Host]

And that's what's actually a really interesting point is where Isabella is from in Colombia is not Bogota. So how long is the flight?

[Isabella Tams]

An hour.

[Podcast Host]

An hour?

[Isabella Tams]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

But it's like, it's, it's a track for people to just like come and stand in line for four hours in a pop up to get products that they really, really want to buy. So because this is their first like physical in real life activation, they wanted to make sure that they had lineups, which they don't have any problem getting lineups. But we weren't sure in going into the launch of this. So what they did is they kind of created controversy. Like they created their fan base to get angry. Because the reality is for how many fans they have, for how many people are going to be able to show up and get in, it's just the numbers don't work. So there's people that are just. They've created scarcity in beauty products because it's now becoming like a status to be there to try the product, to post about it first. But then what they decided is that on Monday they'll release it to everyone. So that again, Isabella comes through is like the saving grace, the hero. She is like the ultimate queen. Never let leaving a girl out. But. But structuring content in this way maintains demand. Yeah.

[Isabella Tams]

No, And I'm so happy. I'm sure they're going to go crazy and they're going to love it and them waiting for it for about a week and seeing everyone here like do unboxings and try them on TikTok. Like they're finally going to get this that they want so much.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. So I'm gonna get some rapid fire questions. Are you ready?

[Isabella Tams]

I'm scared.

[Podcast Host]

I know. Let's get our mimosas locked in.

[Isabella Tams]

Cheers.

[Podcast Host]

All right. Honestly, they're not hard questions. I just wanted an excuse and have a zip. All right, so first question, what has leveled up your content?

[Isabella Tams]

I think like shooting everything on the same day and like editing right away and just posting it and getting everything like vlogs, backstage vlogs, like showing people how we film our videos. Sometimes people think that we do AI like for last Christmas we had this like fake Snow. Because here in Colombia doesn't know. So we had freezing in Boveda. Yes, I should have told you. So we made fake snow and people thought it was AI until I posted like my backstage blog. And people love that.

[Podcast Host]

Eight snow machines.

[Isabella Tams]

Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

But you brought up such a great point. I'm so glad you touched on this because it was so cool to see the level of operation, like how you came in so focused on every shot. The video, the team was like all logged in. We had a video out about the activation, like almost right after it started.

[Isabella Tams]

I know.

[Podcast Host]

And so that the rest of the world, because it was the first night, was an influencer night, which is obviously standard in the industry. But the rest of the world was able to see it through the lens of the brand and not only through the lens of the insight.

[Isabella Tams]

That's very important for me. I knew that we had an influencer event. So everybody will be posting about the place and I wanted to be like the first one to show. Break the news. Yeah, exactly. And show it the right way. Because nobody's going to show it like you show it and like you do your productions and your videos. So I wanted to make sure of that. And I was like with the one, the guy that was editing, Hurry up, hurry up, the people are already here. But we did it on time and the video was incredible.

[Podcast Host]

But it speaks to the world building because when you see a level like the production of the video is done at, it's hard to justify in and of itself until you realize like what the brand is capable of becoming in such a short time frame because of those decisions. Like you really make the customer feel like this brand is magic. Okay, so next question.

[Isabella Tams]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

What is your favorite brand? International brand.

[Isabella Tams]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

All over the world.

[Isabella Tams]

Well, I mean, I love beauty brands. I love Summer Fridays road. I love how Gisu does their marketing. But we do have like amazing fashion brands here in Colombia. Seriously, so many. I love Silvia Terrazzi, Francesca Miranda and then this like Caribbean chic brands Via Maria Baobab. They're beautiful. Even the.

[Podcast Host]

The bag you get, you gifted me.

[Isabella Tams]

I know that's a brand called Verdi. They do like this mochilas, but they do it like with fancy strings.

[Podcast Host]

It truly is true luxury. Beautiful because it's such a. Like a classic style, but done in a way that is. It's such a piece of art. Like that true, like great branding is like when it's unique, special and tied to a story. Okay, what if you could describe Bella Beauty in one word, what would you describe it as?

[Isabella Tams]

Magic. It's.

[Podcast Host]

I mean, that's literally the perfect word for it. It is. And then anyone listening to it is obsessed. They're dying to try Bella Beauty. What is the number one product that they should try?

[Isabella Tams]

Everything. But, I mean, Blush and lip gloss, those are my go to's. I can't go a day without those two. For today. Acai Burst Blush and Amarena Gelato Lip Plus.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, so we're wrapping up. What is the number one thing you want to achieve with Bella Beauty?

[Isabella Tams]

My question, okay. Is to put Colombian beauty on the world map.

[Podcast Host]

On the map, yes.

[Isabella Tams]

Let's do it.

[Podcast Host]

That's not. These are these 3000 women? You are fantastic, guys. I hope you learned from this, from this podcast. I hope you learned from this brand. This is a brand we're following. We're studying. I am using them as a case study with, like, literally the heritage brands that we think shape it. They are struggling compared to the organic community. The growth, this success that this brand has had in two years from what they've done in two years and how obsessed they are behind the scenes, everything that is 100% authentic, they are going to the moon. So continue to follow along Isabella and Bella Beauty. And I've loved being here. Thank you for welcoming me.

[Isabella Tams]

Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. Your podcast. I'm the happiest. Like, I'm living a dream.

[Podcast Host]

Goodbye.

[Isabella Tams]

Goodbye.