552: She Went From $0 to $15M Selling Eyeliner | Iris Smit [VIDEO]

Summary

Podcast Summary: Episode 552 - She Went From $0 to $15M Selling Eyeliner | Iris Smit

Introduction

In Episode 552 of The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan, host Nathan Chan sits down with Iris Smit, the dynamic founder behind Quick Flick, a brand that skyrocketed from $0 to $15 million by revolutionizing the beauty industry with innovative eyeliner products. This in-depth conversation delves into Iris's entrepreneurial journey, highlighting her challenges, triumphs, and the strategic decisions that propelled her business to remarkable heights.

Iris's Journey: From Domestic Violence to Entrepreneurship

Iris opens up about her tumultuous past, explaining how her early life experiences shaped her drive and resilience. Growing up in a household plagued by domestic violence, Iris often felt powerless and struggled with self-worth. She shares, “I was growing up, I had always felt like everything had been taken away from me. I wasn't worthy of anything...” (00:00). These hardships fueled her determination to create something of her own, leading her into the world of entrepreneurship as a means of reclaiming her identity and gaining ownership over her life.

Launching Quick Flick: Inspiration and Process

The inception of Quick Flick traces back to 2017 during Iris's final year studying architecture. Combining her passion for makeup and design, Iris identified a gap in the market for an easy-to-use winged eyeliner application tool. Without prior experience in entrepreneurship, she took a hands-on approach, leveraging her architectural skills to design the product using AutoCAD. She recounts, “I couldn't find [an easy eyeliner tool], so I ended up opening up my AutoCAD program... designed everything, the packaging, built the website...” (01:15). In just six to eight weeks, Iris launched her brand, driven by genuine enthusiasm and a clear vision.

Growth and Shark Tank Experience

Initially, Quick Flick saw modest sales, primarily through friends and family. However, the tide turned when key influencers began featuring her products. A pivotal moment came when Huda Kattan, founder of Huda Beauty, showcased Quick Flick to her massive following, leading to a surge in sales. Iris shares, “I did a false lash application about two years later... The influencer space was just completely different...” (05:01). This exposure caught the attention of Shark Tank producers, leading to her appearance on the show in February 2018. Despite receiving a lucrative offer of $300,000 for her business, Iris prudently declined, sensing that the deal no longer aligned with her company's evolved valuation and direction. She reflects, “When you don't listen to that gut feeling, like I've learned since then, the universe bitch slaps you and comes back to bite you.” (13:59).

Overcoming Rock Bottom and Rebuilding

Despite Quick Flick's outward success, Iris reveals a darker period where personal struggles led her to hit rock bottom. The pressure to achieve constant milestones for happiness proved unsustainable. She candidly states, “I just wish there was a reset button on my life...” (15:19). This pivotal moment drove her to seek intensive therapy, which transformed her personal outlook and, consequently, her approach to business. Iris emphasizes the importance of mental health, noting how therapy enabled her to realign her business with her newfound mindset, leading to a complete restructuring of team dynamics and operational strategies (17:43).

Scaling and Navigating Challenges

Post-recovery, Iris successfully rebuilt Quick Flick, adopting a more sustainable and mentally healthy approach to growth. The onset of COVID-19 acted as an unexpected catalyst, particularly for her lash adhesive product, which thrived as salons closed and consumers sought at-home beauty solutions. Additionally, she launched the Beauty Fridge in late 2019, another innovative product that addressed consumer needs for home organization during lockdowns. However, balancing multiple ventures required strategic prioritization, eventually leading Iris to focus primarily on Quick Flick while sidelining Beauty Fridge (20:25).

Marketing Strategy and Founder-Led Branding

A cornerstone of Quick Flick's success lies in Iris's authentic, founder-led marketing strategy. By sharing behind-the-scenes content and actively involving her community in product development, Iris fosters a deep connection with her audience. She explains, “I started doing that before a lot of people were doing that... involving our community” (24:11). This approach not only builds trust but also leverages free marketing through storytelling and genuine engagement. Iris highlights the effectiveness of visual hooks in marketing, such as demonstrating problem-solving scenarios in short, impactful videos, which resonate well on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

Product Development and Innovation

Iris attributes Quick Flick's ability to consistently launch winning products to a keen focus on customer feedback and market trends. By actively listening to her customers' pain points, Iris identifies opportunities for innovation. For instance, the clear sunscreen spray was developed in response to consumer frustration with white casts from traditional sunscreens, combined with a desire for convenience and aesthetic appeal. She shares, “I listen to what customers are saying... how am I going to market this as I'm designing the product” (31:53). This holistic approach ensures that each product not only solves a problem but is also visually appealing and market-ready from the outset.

Future Vision and Advice

Looking ahead, Iris aims to continue expanding Quick Flick by exploring new product categories such as hair care, driven by ongoing customer demand. She remains passionate about revolutionizing sun care, particularly due to rising skin cancer rates in Australia. Her overarching vision is to maintain innovation while staying true to her core values and vision. Iris advises aspiring entrepreneurs to trust their inner voice and remain flexible in their approaches, emphasizing the importance of aligning business decisions with personal values and avoiding undue influence from external opinions. “Don't feel like you have to subscribe to one way of doing things... What do you truly want?” (48:05).

Notable Quotes

• Iris Smit (00:00): “I think when you don't listen to that gut feeling, like I've learned since then, the universe bitch slaps you and comes back to bite you.”
• Iris Smit (13:59): “Just trust your own inner knowing and where you want to take the business.”
• Iris Smit (24:11): “Creating a business is interesting. There's so much you can show because not everyone is starting a business.”
• Iris Smit (31:53): “We create a problem-solving beauty product that hooks people in with visual solutions.”
• Iris Smit (48:05): “Don't feel like you have to subscribe to one way of doing things. What do you truly want?”

Conclusion

Iris Smit’s story is a testament to resilience, innovation, and the power of authentic leadership. From overcoming personal adversities to building a multimillion-dollar brand, her journey offers invaluable lessons for entrepreneurs. By prioritizing mental health, embracing innovative marketing strategies, and staying attuned to customer needs, Iris has positioned Quick Flick as a standout player in the competitive beauty industry. Her insights underscore the importance of listening to one’s inner voice and remaining adaptable in the face of challenges, providing inspiration and actionable advice for aspiring founders.

---

Note: Timestamps mentioned in the quotes correspond to their appearance in the transcript provided.

Transcript

[Iris]

On paper, everything looked amazing. I was on shark tearing, for God's sake. And my business was doing exceptionally well. But I think it was coming from an unhealthy place where it was like, well, when I do this and when I hit this milestone, then finally I'll feel happy. I really hit rock bottom. And I remember driving home really late at night going, I just wish there was a reset button on my life. So there was a real shift in my entire life, to be honest, that forced me to sort of restructure the way I was running my business, the people I was hiring, my entire approach to my business completely changed. I think when you don't listen to that gut feeling, like I've learned since then, the universe bitch slaps you and comes back to bite you. Hear the stories, learn the proven methods, and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship. Welcome to the Founder podcast with Nathan Chan.

[Nathan Chan]

Look, talk us through the quick flick. You've created this amazing brand, but it was really about gaining ownership over something in your life. So take us back to the moment when you first came up with the idea and really just bringing the brand and the product and turning that process into reality.

[Iris]

So yeah, the brand came to me in 2017 when I was studying architecture. I was in my final year and I was in my mid semester break, which is crazy to think. So I think that was about six weeks and over the course of six weeks pretty much birthed the brand. And actually at the time I was running an e comm business for my then boyfriend and really got a taste for business. E Com world was just popping off at the time and I was like, I would really like to do something for myself and create my own brand. I was really into makeup, always had been very much into design, obviously studying architecture and at the time winged eyeliner was just popping off in the world. Everyone was wearing a winged eyeliner. It was like every YouTube video would end with a winged eyeliner and no one could do it. So I decided to actually first I decided to look for something that would make the application easier. I couldn't find it. And then pretty much ended up opening up my AutoCAD program, which I was using for architecture at the time, creating a winged eyeliner shape, finding a manufacturer to model that up, and pretty much designed everything, the packaging, built the website, created all my social media, everything over like a. It was like six to eight weeks in total, which was just wild. And yeah, launched the brand very quickly. I think at the time I didn't realize, you know, some of those Deeper reasons behind why I was doing what I was doing. And it only really sort of came forward a few years later during some very intense therapy sessions. And I realized it was my own sort of way of gaining ownership and sort of taking back my identity, which had been very much challenged and taken away from me growing up living in a household where I was subject to domestic violence. So I think. I think growing up, I had always felt like everything had been taken away from me. I wasn't worthy of anything. I was constantly in this toxic cycle of trying to prove myself to the world and sort of measuring my worth of a human as how successful can I be? So I really think I treated creating a business as an outlet to sort of deal and process a lot of that, which I think at the start was really unhealthy, and we can go into it, but, you know, a few years after I started my business, everything sort of took a turn, and I very much hit rock, rock bottom and realized I was sort of doing a lot of things in my business and really using it as an outlet to try and process a lot of the trauma that I'd been through, and then realized it wasn't really helping me. And then there was a huge turning point where I sort of had to build my entire business back up from scratch from a completely different place after I had worked through a lot of the trauma that I'd been subjected to.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah. Wow. Thanks for sharing. So you launched the quick flick in 2017, right?

[Iris]

Yeah. Correct.

[Nathan Chan]

Okay. And talk to me around like it cost $10,000 in savings, while you said juggling University. How did that launch go? Why? Can you talk us through was what did it? Did it because. Because. Because eyelashes. Magnetic is magnetic. Right. The magnetic eyelashes, really?

[Iris]

So I did a false lash application about two years later. So the first product was the winged eyeliner stamp.

[Nathan Chan]

Yep. Okay.

[Iris]

And then I launched that into a range of shades, different sizes. And then, yeah, I did do a lash application. It actually wasn't magnetic lashes. It was a lash adhesive, which basically works like a. A sticky note. You know how you can stick a sticky note and then you can take it off and reapply it? So I actually launched that just as Covid was hitting, which was perfect because we sort of acquired this whole new customer who couldn't go to the salons to get their lashes done. So that did really well for us over Covid.

[Nathan Chan]

Gotcha. Okay. Yeah. Sorry. Excuse. Excuse my knowledge around this space. Okay, so, so you launch. You launched the first product, and. Which was your hero product in 2017. How did it go that. That kind of space, though? Pretty hot back then, right?

[Iris]

Yeah. Yeah. So I would say it was probably easier to launch a brand back then because there was just less competition. It was also easier for me, I would say, because it was. I had the advantage of it being completely unique and a first of its kind. So I ended up getting an innovation pattern on the design as well. And I think it was just like, right place, right time. Like I said, Winged eyeliner was just the look. Everyone was wearing it. But I guess it wasn't like overnight success. I kind of didn't really know what I was doing. I was sort of learning as I went. So I think the first day I launched, I did like $800 in sales. And most of that was just friends and family, really. And it was a really slow burn. I think it took about 4ish months until I really started to see some traction. I guess I was also still juggling, working full time, going to uni full time, and then sort of doing that in the evenings. But I think it really took off when I had some, like, key influencers using the products in their videos. Back then, the influencer space was just completely different. You know, one person could use it and it would just equal $10,000 in sales in like an hour. You know, it was crazy. And then I guess it was just like a catalyst of events after the influencer used it. I had a Daily Mail writer see that video, write an article. The Shark Tank producers saw the Daily Mail article, reached out to me, encouraged me to audition for the show. So it was just like this nice little catalyst of events. And then I guess it really sort of started to take off. Early 2018.

[Nathan Chan]

Got you. That was pre Shark Tank.

[Iris]

Yeah. So, yeah, pre Shark Tank, pre me actually filming it, it started to really take off. I think it was just the influencers using it. A lot of the PR that had came about, I wasn't really even running that much in terms of ads. I think it was mostly just organic really at that time. But I think what really made it blow up was Huda Katarn, who's the founder of Huda Beauty, she made a video using it. And I think at the time she had like 430 million followers. And it just. I remember opening my phone up and going, what is going on? And I saw she had posted. So, yeah, I actually filmed Shark Tank February 2018. It didn't air until early June. So during that time, before it actually, you know, airing, the business just really took off, started to gain a lot of momentum, I had retailers reaching out and a lot of that was just driven by socials and people struggling with winged eyeliner. Every influencer using the stamp in their makeup video tutorial. Yeah, it all just came together. The star of the line.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah. And so there's a few things there I would love to unpack. When you get a post from an influencer that has, like you said, like 30 million followers, like what, what kind of sales does that equal?

[Iris]

So I think on the third first day we did like close to $50,000 in sales, which wasn't, you know, it wasn't a usual day of sales. I think, you know, maybe around then we were doing $2,000 a day on average. So yeah, I could hear, you know, the Shopify, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding ding, what is going on. But I think it's a very different landscape now with influences. I'm not sure if we would replicate that again.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah, and then you said that the Shark Tank producers actually reached out to you. So you didn't apply. You didn't look to go on to Shark Tank?

[Iris]

No, I didn't. And I think one of the reasons I didn't was just the headspace I was in at the time where I was like had a lot of limiting self beliefs and thought, I'm a newbie, there's no way I could go on Shark Tank. You know, it's very well established businesses that go in. I had this very sort of like negative self talk. And yeah, when I first got the email, I actually thought it was a scam. I'm pretty sure I deleted it. And then I was like, hang on, maybe it's real undelete. And didn't respond, didn't audition in time. And I just had this voice in my head at 12:30am in the morning saying, iris, just submit, just apply. So I got up quickly, filmed a video on my iPhone. It was so raw, it was like UGC before UGC was even a thing. And then submitted it the next day, got a call from the producer saying we loved it. We loved how raw the video was. Glad you liked it. And yeah, long story short, ended up making it on the show. So can you imagine, had I not submitted, how different things would be?

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah. And so you raised 300,000. Well, you got an offer that you accepted for 300,000, but then you decided to turn it down. Why? Talk us through that. Talk us through that experience. And did the publicity really help the business grow? Because by that stage you guys were like on the Way to being a million dollar brand.

[Iris]

Yeah, so like I said before, I filmed it in February, it didn't actually air until early June, so quite a few months later. And when you film, there's a large gap where, at least for me, I didn't hear from the shark for a very long time. And, and so much happened in such a short amount of time. Our sales were like doubling month on month. We were approached by Priceline who had like POS ready to go to range us. And one of the main reasons I went on Shark Tank was to try and find an investor to help me with retail. Cause I knew that I wanted to be in retail. I knew the cost it was gonna take to do that and I was just navigating a space I had knew nothing about. So, yeah, when it came to actually, you know, us sitting down and going through the deal, it just, the valuation had completely changed by that point and it just didn't feel like the right deal at that stage because so much had changed. So, yeah, decided to go our separate ways and not go through with that.

[Nathan Chan]

That could be pretty daunting for a lot of entrepreneurs. Like, because most people dream of getting a deal on Shark Tank, especially in the early days. Like, I even, like I even, I even applied for the first ever season of Shark Tank in Australia. I got to the final round, but they, they didn't put me through. Which was it? Look, it was all good, but. And I remember when I was like, did you have to do. I don't know if you felt this, but I had to do like a couple of rounds of like testing with. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they, and the producers were like, look, whatever happens, regardless, you have an amazing story. Congratulations on all your success. It was early days founder. So maybe like 2015, 2014, like just before the first season, but I didn't get on. But I know, I meant for many people that would be in your early stages, like a dream to, to, you know, work with a shark to get an offer. And it's a look good from a publicity standpoint because there's always that fear that you might get the bad edit because they need that. So. Yeah. So was it, was it tough like to looking back, like, you know, to say, hey, I don't need this.

[Iris]

Yeah, it really was. I had a lot of pressure from people around me to take it for the reasons, like you said, it's an amazing opportunity. How could you turn it down? You know, people dream of this. There was a lot of pressure, but I just had a gut feeling that it wasn't right, it wasn't the right direction to go in. And I think when you don't listen to that gut feeling, like I've learned since then, the universe bitch slaps you and comes back to bite you. So, yeah, it was just like a very deep, deep inner knowing that it wasn't the right direction to go. And based on all the events that incurred after the filming in such a short amount of time. And yeah, I guess there was, you know, pressure. How's it going to look from a publicity standpoint? But I guess it was just a. It was a challenge to mold me in terms of how much are you really going to trust what I think and not let the voices of other people's opinions who are giving you opinions on a business that isn't theirs. How much am I really going to let that impact me? So it was a really big challenge on trusting my own inner knowing and where I wanted to take the business.

[Nathan Chan]

So. So then what happened next is that when you really hit rock bottom after.

[Iris]

That, I started hitting rock bottom around the Shark Tank period, which again, I know some people would say is so bizarre because on paper everything looked amazing. And I was on Shark Tank, for God's sake. And my business was doing exceptionally well. I had a growing team. Like, I was ticking all the boxes, you know, But I think it was coming from an unhealthy place where it was like, well, when I do this and when I hit this milestone and when this happens, then finally I'll feel happy. And whenever I then reach those milestones, the happiness didn't come. So it felt really, really exhausting. And I think I hadn't faced everything that had happened to me growing up. I was just living in denial and I guess hadn't processed any of it, had never gone to therapy, hadn't really spoken to anyone about it. And I was very much living my life with the inner voice of I am so fucked. And I could never be fixed because everything that's happened to me is just so horrific. I could never. I could never move past it. I could never get better. So what's the point? That was my inner dialogue as I was constantly trying to achieve all these things and thinking once I achieve all these things, it will eventually be better. Then when it wasn't better, it was like, well, what else can I do, you know? So, yeah, I really hit rock bottom. And I remember driving home really late at night one night, going, I just wish there was a reset button on my life. That's it. That's the only thing that was left for me is what I thought. I just need a reset button on all of this. And yeah, I guess that was like a big wake up call of I really need to take my mental health seriously, stop burning myself from both ends and go and get professional help to work through this. Because there was really no lower I could go at that point.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah. Thank you for sharing. And what happened next? Like you said to me, you had to rebuild the business from the ground up. Like, did you start experiencing losses? Like, you, like, talk me through that?

[Iris]

Well, what happened next was I ended up finding a really good therapist and pretty much did almost two years of very intense therapy twice a week. And through that birthed a completely different person. I became a completely different person. So the business that I had created, the structures I'd created, the people I'd hired, the way I was running my business from that old iris no longer aligned with the new iris. So there was a real shift in my entire life, to be honest. And yeah, that forced me to sort of restructure the way I was running my business. The people I was hiring. My entire approach to my business completely changed because it had been built from this old mindset.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah. And can we go a little bit more in depth? Like, can you give us some examples or share some stories perhaps?

[Iris]

Yeah, I think like a lot of entrepreneurs, when they start, you know, you hire friends and family and friends of friends and you're not necessarily hiring the right people for your business with the right talent. So I think I probably wasn't taking my business super seriously at that time and was just sort of, you know, handing my baby over to anyone and everyone and just trusting them to do the right thing. But at the time, you know, my friendship group and a lot of the people around me weren't, I realized the best people for me and it was my own fault. You know, I was probably quite a negative person at the time and running from an energy that wasn't good. So obviously you're going to attract similar people. So once I started to shift and change through a lot of the therapy I was doing, I was like, whoa, what is going on? This just does not feel right anymore. So, yeah, changed a lot of the people who were in the business. I also completely restructured how we worked. Like, I was very set on we have to have an office and everyone has to be based in Perth and all of our fulfillment has to be out of here. That was very much my ego just playing into the image of what a successful Entrepreneur looks like, like a nice big flashy office and everyone working from there and a big warehouse. And then once my mindset started to change, I was like, well, actually I can run this remote and open this up so I can hire people from anywhere and everywhere and give them more flexible working hours. So yeah, it changed in many, many ways.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah. Okay, there you go. And by this stage, the business was a multi million dollar business.

[Iris]

Yes. Yeah, so I'd launched. This was, this was after I launched into Priceline. This was probably. This was between. This whole like kind of shift happened between 2019 and 2020. And I think Covid was just like the major catalyst that was just the confirmation for me, especially from the remote angle. Once everyone started working remote, it was almost like a nice little test drive. And I was like, actually this is right. I let go of my office, my lease was ending. And yeah, that was like the final thing that cemented it.

[Nathan Chan]

Yep, yep. Okay. And then when did you launch the beauty fridge? Because that's your second business. But I think it was quite clever soon after that.

[Iris]

Yeah, so I launched that in late 2019. And yeah, like you said it was, it was just like right product, right time, like skincare was popping off and then Covid hit and everyone was like buying products for their, their home and rearranging during COVID because they had nothing to do. So they were buying, you know, products to help with storage and organization. So yeah, I, I launched that. Yeah, just before it hit. And then Covid hit and it really took off in 2020. Also did like a split model with that where when in store was stuck to like Target Priceline and then also sold online as well.

[Nathan Chan]

Yep, got you. And how fast did that brand grow? Like you talk us, can you talk us through any numbers or details?

[Iris]

I don't like to touch on the numbers too much, but it, yeah, it did grow exceptionally well. I think with that business though, I realized it started to become a little bit of a distraction though to Quick Flick. I've started to spend a lot of time in that and I think I realized this is not really a long term brand for me. It was more just like a, I guess like a trend product. Like just strike while the iron's hot. Go as hard as you can. It was actually it came again at the perfect time because Quick Flick, when Covid started to hit was very much like a cosmetics focused brand. Eyeliner, stabs, lashes. And I very quickly realized Covid was having an influence on consumers to shift away from wearing like very heavy full glam makeup and become more focused on their skin health, natural looking makeup. Sunscreen started to come big. So during the time where I needed to really like double down and create new products and really innovate quickly, can move it away from just being a cosmetics brand. I had Beauty fridge on the side doing exceptionally well and almost carrying Quick Flick through that transition period. And then once Quick Flick had all of this new innovation, we launched our sunscreens 2020 or 2021 and then went really hard into the sun care category. I sort of toned down Beauty Fridge and then Quick Flick step back up so that it actually worked really well. They sort of lent on each other.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah, got you. And yeah, look, you have played in a few different categories, but what I love is you've got the brand right and then you can play in different categories, but for the most part in the beauty space. How. And you've bootstrapped the business. So you've had limited marketing budget. How do you creatively market the Quick Flick and stand out in a crowded beauty space? Like a lot of people want to move into the beauty space.

[Iris]

Yeah. So I think there's a few answers to that question. So I think the main. Well, one of them would be really honing in on the founder profile and messaging. So if you go on my socials, you'll see that I'm very active on there and show like a behind the scenes sort of angle to the business and really focus on storytelling, taking consumers behind the journey of what goes into running a business. You know, how do you develop a product from scratch? Which I know sounds like a lot of people do that, but I think I started doing that before a lot of people were doing that. Which is where I've sort of become really well known for taking people on the journey, saying to our customers, These are the 20 different shades we're trying to choose. Which one would you like? Really involving them in the process? I think the other one on our branded socials is really honing in on problem solution because that's what our brand is all about. It's like problem solving beauty products. So give me a problem. How do you reapply sunscreen over makeup? Let's show the problem, which is let's go and spray white sunscreen on our face. Put on the screen problem and that's like, it's such a good hook. People are hooked. Oh, the problem. Oh, my God. What is that? It's like a good visual hook. And then the next clip. The solution, Applying our product. You can see straight away how it works. It doesn't leave the white cast like the previous clip and it's short, it's like a 10 second video. So really understanding people want to see quick solutions. They don't necessarily want to be have their attention grabbed for a long period of time. This is how to acquire new viewers. Right. And then once we've got them in and interested then start showing them more of those longer form pieces like how did we develop this product? And really educating them and taking them behind the scenes and showing them everything that goes into it. Which is really interesting to some people. Like a lot of people say to me what should I post about when I haven't even started? Like it's, there's nothing interesting I can post about. I'm like creating a business is interesting. There's so much you can show because not everyone is starting a business. So I show in the lab, designing the packaging on my laptop, all of that process and really involving our community. So they feel they've gone along every single step, they've had input so that when the product is launching and hitting shelves they're already, they're eager, they want to buy it. People get angry at me, hurry up, can you just launch it? When is it coming? Literally I show a product once on my socials and I'm like, I'm thinking of this. People already start commenting, when is this coming? So I think really involving your customers in the brand, almost like you know, they're a partner with you along every step of the way.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah. Look, there is definitely a massive trend for founder led brands like, and building in public like that is, that is something that is going to continue to, to massively rise. And the founders that not doing this, they're really missing out because it's free marketing.

[Iris]

Right, agreed. 100 yeah. If you're not doing it like you're missing out on a huge piece of the pie.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah. And you said that you were very early on doing that before others were. Did that come naturally to you or was that a strategic move?

[Iris]

It just came naturally to be honest. I think after I went on Shark Tank I was kind of just like forced to profile myself. I think like people would ask like where's Iris? How's she going? Can Iris do this tutorial? What lip liner is she wearing in this video? Like I just started to see people were taking an interest to me. So yeah, around 2020 when TikTok was sort of starting to rise, that's when I, you know, got more heavily on TikTok and sharing the behind the scenes which do you know, it was a real challenge for me because it felt unprofessional at the time because back then it was all about this nice polished front. Like you wanted to look like a huge professional brand. You didn't want to show them how you were designing your products. Like it felt, it felt like you were a small time brand if you were doing that. But I just started testing and posting and doing little things here and there and you know, would see the interest people would have. Like I think one of my videos, I was just sketching out a shelf ready tray for our retailers. People were fascinated by a cardboard tray that sits in grocery. But like no brand's ever spoken about that. No one. You don't think about that when you go into grocery and go, oh, there's a cardboard stand on here, someone designed that. And there's so many things you have to think about when you're making this stand. So when you start showing the behind the scenes on that, it's interesting to people and they don't feel sold to. So they, they're getting a natural interest into your brand, but they don't feel like you're forcing them to buy something. But then once they're in there, you know, inevitably they may towards the end.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah. And, and that connection and relationship that you build with your community, it's so much stronger. Like you don't need like a super large following. Like if you look at, you know, your Instagram TikTok, you, you know, collectively it's like only like a hundred is around a hundred thousand. I don't remember the numbers, but it's. Yeah, it's like a hundred thousand plus. Right. So mine are the brands your personal.

[Iris]

Yes, I think personally across like all my platforms, I've got about 150,000.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah, there you go. Right. And so some people wouldn't realize that like you don't need a super, super large. That's a large following. But you know what I mean? Like even if you had millions. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like even if you had 20,000 on TikTok and 20,000 on Instagram, like 50,000, but a really good strong relationship, you can move a lot of product, you can build a large community. Because that's a lot of people, right?

[Iris]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Nathan Chan]

Like you would get, I'm sure like hundreds if not thousands of responses sometimes to your stories. Right. That you can't keep up.

[Iris]

Yeah, 100%. And especially on videos where I'm asking for feedback on product goes off because people love to give their opinion you.

[Nathan Chan]

Know, but not everyone would like, so I have like, you know, 20, 30, 000 followers on my Instagram, but I don't, I, I don't really, which I will in the future, like try and build a relationship like deeply with my community and the founder community. People just followed me over the years and I don't really post. Right. And that's, you know, so if I did a post, it might only get like a thousand views, two thousand views, you know, and, and like, if I asked a question, I get, you know, 30, 40, 50 comments. But not like you would think, because I haven't spent the time to build that relationship, to build up that engagement. And it sounds like you've been doing that for quite some time and now it's reaching critical mass, right?

[Iris]

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

[Nathan Chan]

Well, yeah. Okay. So you've talked about how you stand out. How do you find new product ideas because you've moved in in many different categories. Sunscreen to makeup, to like even like, like the beauty fridge. Like, like you, you seem to be hitting a lot of winners. Is there anything that you can share around how you identify trends or identify up and coming products to launch under the quick flick?

[Iris]

Yes, of course. So main one would be just listening to what customers are saying. So yeah, people aren't afraid to share what they're struggling with, what problems they're experiencing with beauty applications for us in general. Like with the sunscreen one, I was seeing a lot of people searching online and coming to me and saying, could you create a way that you can easily reapply sunscreen? When I wear a full face of makeup, there's nothing like it out there. And then thinking of the solution in an innovative way. And I also, when I think of the solution, I also like to think, how am I going to market this? How's it going to be visually appealing? How can I show it in the first two seconds and hook people in? So I'm almost thinking like, good product, good visual hooks on marketing and also making it, you know, look good on TikTok and on Instagram, rather than designing all the product and then sitting down and going, okay, how are we going to market this? I'm already thinking, how am I marketing this as I'm designing the product. So example, also our sunscreen. I know people can't see this at the moment, but a lot of our products, we've gone for a domed lid. When I went into market looking on shelf, there's no other brand sitting in grocery with a domed lid. It's different. It's going to stand out because it looks different. It's going to spark comments from people who are going to comment on how the packaging is different. So just thinking about the whole, like the end to end, where people are going to buy it in retail, what's it going to look like online? How am I going to demonstrate and market it again with the. I developed a tanning mousse. I made the applicator look like whipped cream because I knew when I marketed it. Spraying out a product that looks like whipped cream that's tanned is going to hook people in. Every single time I start a video spraying this tan, no joke, the video will get over a million views. So I'm thinking about all of that as I'm doing it. And then also just sitting online and reading and just consuming as much data as you can, looking at what other people are saying about other brands. What are they writing about in their reviews? What are the negative reviews saying? Like, what are current products not meeting and just absorbing all of that. When you're thinking about what your solution could be. I said something else before when it was recording. I can't remember what I said. Those would be the main ones. Yeah. But I definitely think for us, the winning is the products work, obviously, but they're just so visually appealing and they hook people in. When I market it because of the application or how you apply it and.

[Nathan Chan]

Talk me through how you bring the products to life. Like, how do you source the product and manufacture? Like. Like talk us through that piece. Do you use agents often or. Because. Because, yeah, you. It sounds like you run a pretty lean team as well.

[Iris]

Yes. Yeah. So people would be shocked to know that the product is all done by myself and I've become really good at it. Like, yeah, I think you're right. Like, it is very lean. I could definitely bring someone in to, you know, come up with all of those ideas and all of that. But I'm so quick and I know it so well. Now. I've become really good at designing a product that will go viral. So, no, I don't work with agents. I do all of the sourcing myself, finding a suitable manufacturer. I do source cosmetic chemists to help with the formulas and then I will basically work alongside them to create the formula to where we want it to be. Some projects we'll just need one chemist and we get it done in 10 iterations. Some will need, like the Moose products we had to have. We had three cosmetic chemists working on it and it took like over 100 samples. It was very tedious. So it just depends on the product, how quick it can be. Sometimes you know that the process with the chemist can take a year, sometimes it can take a month. It really depends.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah. And do you tend to find those manufacturers or chemists in Perth or do you. Is it more Sydney, Melbourne?

[Iris]

Yeah. So our manufacturers are based all over Australia and I find them based on their specialty. So, you know, the manufacturer, for example, who does our mousse, is specialised in making aerosol products. So that's their specialty. Same with the chemists. Like, finding chemists who have an experience, say, in making sunscreen is going to be very different to a chemist who's experienced in making color cosmetics. So finding people based on their skills, and I've found because of that, it's. It's easier to get the project done quicker. When you've worked with people who've worked on similar projects in the past, it runs like clockwork.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah. Okay. So that's really interesting because most people, that's a big sticking point for them, like, they come with the product idea, but they struggle to find a great partner to bring it to life. Also, when you're working with chemists, oftentimes they're looking for decent sized moqs. Do you have any minimum water quantities to do the first run? Do you have any advice or experiences or stories you could share there?

[Iris]

Yeah, so you're right, there is definitely MOQs. And over the years they've gotten larger and larger. Like, I know my eyeliner tabs, the first PO was 800 units. And that's after I'd negotiated it down from a thousand units. I was like, a thousand is too much. Gosh, a thousand. You know, now if people could start with a thousand units, it would make it a lot easier. So, yeah, we tend to say either MOQs, you know, anywhere from 10 to 20,000 or sometimes like minimum spend requirements. Like your PO has to be $100,000, for example. Yeah. And those MOQs are more so when it's like a custom formula, you know, it's your own formula in your own packaging. That's all been customized. So I would say if I was starting out again, I would probably look. No doubt there's manufacturers who do do lower moqs. I've come across them, like, some will go down to 5,000, but I would probably do it in a savvy way where you don't necessarily have to go buy 5,000 bottles or customize, like opt for a sticker, you know, it doesn't have to be perfect the first go. And once you've proven it, then you can go and invest in 5,000 units with a sticker on it. So, yeah, I would probably just do it in slightly different ways in that sense, but also just have an honest conversation with your manufacturer, like say to them, I'm just starting out, 5,000 is a lot. Is there any way you could accommodate a smaller run just for the first time, two and a half thousand units. And, you know, this is what my forecasts look like going forward because they're obviously a business and they want to make money. But I do find, you know, when you have those honest conversations, a lot of the times the manufacturers are happy to work with you.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah, I've. Over the years, I've heard some crazy stories from interviews where if you are open, honest, vulnerable sometimes. Yeah, the amount of founders that share that a manufacturer or partner has taken a chance on them and then it's worked out. Yeah. So. So there is always leeway, but it's always interesting to hear how they bring the product to life.

[Iris]

Yeah.

[Nathan Chan]

So it's really crazy. I first heard a quick flick when I was working on my brand. We had the same website developer, Elephant Room. Yes. Long time ago. Yeah, long, long time ago. And I said, yeah, this is a, this is a, this is a brand that we're working on. It did really, really well. And there was some really clever conversion rate optimization elements that we kind of actually modeled from you with. Because I used to have an econ brand as well and. Yeah, that. And then I've seen you evolve the brand over time. I'm curious, when it comes to focus, because you are launching so many different products or you have over your career launched quite a few different products in many different categories, how do you know when to double down on growth versus launching new products? Because launching new products is fun. Like that. That's like, for me, as someone that's a natural creative, that's like one of the funnest things. Marketing. It, of course is fun as well. But launching and creating, there's something very special about that.

[Iris]

Yeah, of course. So when you say versus focusing on growth, do you mean like growing into new markets? Like, how do you define growth?

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah, well, look, you could. There's an argument that you could just keep doubling down on your existing products. You don't need to launch any new. Like, how do you know when to launch new SKUs or go into new categories?

[Iris]

Yes, so a range of different things. So in the past, we've had our retailers actually Come to us back. I think last year I did a whole series launching some new SKUs into Coles. And during that series you'll see that we got an email from our buyer saying we're looking for products in new products in the tanning category. They loved what we had done in the sun care category. We really shook up the sun care category coming in. We were very disruptive and they were looking for, you know, sort of a replica of that in tanning. She says if there's anyone who can shake up the tanning, it's you. I said no worries, I'm on it. That's when the weather, whipped cream came out, you know, so it's a mixture of things. It's having the opportunities come to us. Obviously you know, there's also an argument you shouldn't say yes to everything. But in that scenario, the opportunity of having of being able to pitch two new SKUs in tanning to Coles was a no brainer. You know, so there's that having interest from retailers coming and their support essentially. There's also again like just listening to what consumers are saying and trying to be the first to jump on it. Like the sunscreen spray was just, it changed the game for us. Had we not jumped on that and been like the first to really set the scene for how sunscreen applications could be different, we would have, I don't think we would be where we are now because that just opened the door to so many different things. And that, yeah, that really came about just like listening to what customers were saying, but also not giving them exactly what they were asking for. I think that's the key. Like they were saying, could it be like a clear stick that goes over like you don't have to do exactly what they're saying. That's why I say when you create something, do it in an innovative way. So we did like the clear sunscreen spray we built in. The other elements of it being a setting spray and a hydrating facial mist. So adding like extra value through that way. So I think there's, yeah, just like listening to what people are saying and like what's the market telling you and the same in terms of doubling down on what's already working. We're currently doing that and trying to expand into new markets with the products that we've already got. We're not going and creating completely different products for these new markets. We're picking our best bets that we know that work and are transferable and implementing those. First, the current markets. We're really Honing in on are the US and uk, Europe, and we've already got a foot in the door in Asia as well, and that's doing exceptionally well. But again, with Asia, just focusing on what we know would work there, which was the sunscreens. So that's our main ploy there.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah. And it's really cool that you're still growing your business while working remotely, location independent, all of that. Talk me through that. Because a lot of growing brands don't tend to go full remote. I see this in from a. From a tech perspective. There's a lot of tech brands that go full remote, but E Com, not as. Not as much. Talk me through that. And the lifestyle, like, all that good stuff. Like, what is. How often do you work? What is your work life like? What does that look like?

[Iris]

Yeah, yeah. So I love to work. I really do. Like, I know some people would say it's unhealthy, but I genuinely just love what I do. It lights my soul up. Like, if I had too many days off work, I just want to go back to work. I just, I get all these ideas, all I have to do to get back into it. So, yeah, I pretty much work, I would say from. I Normally start around 8, 9, and probably finish off about 6, 6, 30, which isn't terrible. I mean, it used to be worse when I was starting out, but I think, to be honest, like, the whole, like, fully remote came from me seeing how others had made it work.

[Nathan Chan]

So.

[Iris]

A good friend of mine owns a very successful fitness brand. She lives in Bali, mostly US Based, very big on Amazon. And when I first met her, six, seven years ago, she was fully remote. And I said, you're crazy. I don't know how you do it. I could never do that. That was my mind. How could you do that? No way. And I think just seeing how she run, it really changed my perspective. And I also, once I started opening myself up to it, I found myself hearing stories from other founders and listening to podcasts of other entrepreneurs who'd built very successful businesses. And they had a team of five, fully remote, and they were doing like $100 million in revenue. It was just insane. It was just really challenging everything. And I'm like, I'm here trying to challenge the way products are created. Why don't I also apply that mentality to the way I'm building my business and how this whole ecosystem can run to support a successful business? So, yeah, I really set myself the challenge. I'm going to apply the same mentality when I Approach every product. How can I do it different? How can I make it better? I applied that to my level of thinking in terms of how I could structure my business and my team. So, yeah. And it works really well. I couldn't imagine going back to an office. Oh, my God. No way.

[Nathan Chan]

Yeah. That's awesome. Well, look, thank you for sharing. We have to work towards wrapping up. I could speak to you all day about product building, all the things you're working on, how you build these incredible brands, but what's your vision for the future of Quick Flick? And are there any new categories or markets you're excited to explore in the coming years? And then also just any final words of wisdom you'd like to share with our community?

[Iris]

Yeah, of course. So, yeah, I think the vision is honestly to just continue on the trajectory we currently are, continue innovating new categories. The list is endless. I get problems every single day from our community. I've had a lot of requests recently for hair, though. Hair care is popping off at the moment and a lot of people have problems in hair. So maybe hair will be next. Yeah. And definitely continue to revolutionize sun care. I'm very passionate about sunscreen and sun care. Especially in Australia. The rates of skin cancer just keep going up and up and up. I think my biggest sort of takeaway based on, like, everything we've spoken about is like, don't feel like you have to subscribe to one way of doing things. I think that's the biggest thing whether it comes to, you know, your product or how you approach a business, how you want to run it. Really sit with, you know, what is your vision and question, is that really your vision or have you been too influenced by someone else? Is it your ego that's leading that vision? Like, what do you truly want? What do you truly value as an entrepreneur? What employees do you want to attract that have similar values to you? So I think that would probably be my biggest takeaway that I would leave with your community.

[Nathan Chan]

Awesome. Well, Iris, thank you so much for taking the time. Congratulations on all of your success thus far and I look forward to following your journey from afar.

[Iris]

Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

[Nathan Chan]

Hey, guys, if you love this episode, you've got to check out my interview with Davey Fogarty on how he finds trends in under capitalized markets and turns them into multimillion dollar businesses.

[Iris]

I'm generally looking for trends globally. We find trends that haven't been kind of capitalized in certain markets or in certain marketing channels.

[Nathan Chan]

Yes.

[Iris]

And then we also obviously add our flair to it. You need to differentiate your product.