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558: How This Ex-Hairdresser Made $100K in 3 Months Launching Her Sunscreen Brand | Tori Gill
00:43:50
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- [00:00]
Tori Gill
I would be lying if I said that I was never really looking to do something. I work as a barber, so I always wanted to do something where. How can I make money where I'm not the person cutting hair? I started to, like, really look into sunscreen and realized that I couldn't find one that wasn't, like, thick or white or chalky. And I was like, surely there is another solution to this. So it's been hard. I could, like, be sending emails at the park, pushing one child on the swing, the other one's playing in the sand pit, and I'm sending an email. But I also just do it when the kids are sleeping. Probably why I've got bags under my eyes. But, yeah, I think you just make it work. Our first day, we made $4,000 of sales. I was happy with one. Like, I was like, if I sell one, I'll be happy eventually. Hopefully I can get cut down on cotton people's hair and then hopefully one day go all. And hopefully I outgrow my. My spare bedroom.
- [00:54]
N Channel
Hear the stories, learn the proven methods, and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship. Welcome to the founder podcast with N Channel. We've got Tori Gill is the founder of a company called Son and Daughter, a brilliant sunscreen brand. And she's a member of the Founder plus community. And she recently won a grant that we ran an incredible community event around. And Tori was the winner, like, and she was voted by our community for her brand, Son and daughter, this incredible sunscreen brand. She only launched two months ago. She's on track to do over $100,000 in three months, which is absolutely insane with this sunscreen brand. Tell us a little bit about Son and Daughter. How did you come up with this amazing idea?
- [01:45]
Tori Gill
So it probably started two years ago, and I was on the beach. We were in Manly, me and my family. And I have two kids, but I just had one at the time, and I was putting sunscreen on my son, and my friend was there as well. We both had the same brand of sunscreen, and I had run out of mine, and mine said mineral sunscreen on it, and hers didn't, even though they're the same brand. And she said, oh, you should buy this one. It's a lot cheaper and you get more in it. And at first I was like, is it just because mine says baby on it that it's costing more money? Is it just marketing, or is there a reason why this mineral sunscreen costs more? And then I started to, like, really look into sunscreen and realized that there's only two different types of sunscreens. There's a mineral sunscreen and there's a chemical sunscreen. And they both work in different ways to stop your skin from getting burnt. Then after looking into it, I realized that I wanted to be using a mineral sunscreen on my kids because the chemical sunscreen had chemical active ingredients in there and they absorb into the skin and they actually absorb the UV rays as well. And then a chemical reaction happens under the skin and it's released as heat. So that's how like a sunscreen works. But a mineral sunscreen reflects UV rays and it's normally like a lot more gentle on the skin and it doesn't absorb into the deep layers of skin. So then when I went to find a mineral sunscreen, I couldn't find one that wasn't like thick or white or chalky like that zinc sunscreen, like wouldn't rub in. And I was like, surely there is another solution to this. And obviously, like lots of businesses, it started with the problem. And yeah, so then when I was looking at ones that were okay sunscreens that would rub in a little bit better than the other ones, there had no brand. They were just like white bottle in a natural health food store. There was nothing cool about it. No one was really like branding this. Now sunscreen had really kind of was just starting to get cool. There was other brands coming out, but they were all focused to us. Like they were all girls in bikinis that were like my age. And as a mom, like, I don't want to go on somebody's social media and like find a sunscreen. It like doesn't say it is for children. So I was like, there's has to be something here. And I was literally sitting on the beach and I came up with the name Son and daughter. And I instantly was like, oh my God, I need to trademark this. And I trademarked it straight away. And. And I'm a hairdresser. So I would be lying if I just said that I was never really looking to do something. I always like, like I always knew that I wanted to like do something else. Like being a hairdresser. I never had my own shop, but. And I didn't want my own shop. So I always wanted to do something where. How can I make money where I'm not the person cutting hair? Like, I taught a lot of barbering and had a lot of clients and I had quite a high end clientele as well. So my price point was I was earning like good money, but I Thought I always have to be that person cutting the hair to make money. So how can I make money and not be the person physically working? So I was always thinking, like, oh, I wanted to do a kids brand and clothing and stuff like that, but clothing was. It's a little bit harder because you obviously constantly have to be doing, like, new seasons and. Yeah. So when I, like, thought of this idea, I thought, this is. This is perfect. Like, this is a product. Like, not many people are doing it. There's not many other kids sunscreens on the market. And, like, how can we make this very cool but also supernatural and good for our children's skin? And now there's a lot of things on social media about how bad sunscreen is for you. But back then, it wasn't really a thing yet. So I kind of got in there at the right time and then. Yeah, that's what started the whole idea.
- [05:29]
N Channel
Yeah, there you go. So you only launched two months ago. The brand, like, the branding is on point. You've done a fantastic job with the branding. You did all that yourself. Right.
- [05:40]
Tori Gill
So a lot of it. So basically, when idea came around and then, like, I love Canva. So, like, I went on Canva and I played with every single font in Canva. I got, like, a bottle off the Internet, just, like a plain tube bottle, and I was, like, putting different fonts on it, writing son and daughter. And I just randomly one day flipped the the logo and turned it bright red. And I was like, I love this. And then I, like, changed my whole mood board, and it was all, like, pops of color. And I was like, okay, this is the direction I want to go in. Like, this is fun. Like, no one' color yet. Everyone's doing the beige and boring Byron B vibes. Like, and I was like, I want to be, like, different. And then that's how, like, the red color kind of came around. And then I just, like, played on that. And literally just every day was, like, playing with, like, changing the box to red or having the box cream with the red writing, and then playing around with, like, all of the different, like, ideas and how I could do it. And then once I had had everything, like, I made a brand deck and I had all of that, and then I was ready to finalize it. And I went to a branding agency to finalize, because I do it all on Canva. Like, I literally just copy and paste. I don't know how to, like, properly, like, put where each text is going to go. Exactly. So then they, like, finalized everything and they moved the and sign across because I didn't have that. So they did that and that's what, like, kind of like made it spark. And then. Yeah, so I did a lot of it and gave them that. They said, oh, we've never really worked with a client that's given us the brand deck before. Like, I had the mission, I had the tone of voice, I had the values. Like, I had everything ready and I had the colors. I'm like, you just finalize it and make it a bit better. So, yeah, it was.
- [07:19]
N Channel
Yeah, you've done an amazing job with the brand and that's one thing that stood out to us, right? Like, you won, you know, you won the grant, the Founder plus grant, fair and square. You were like voted by far by the community and that's what stood out to me. Like, I was like, wow, Torres brand is amazing. Like, oh, like we've got so many other incredible companies, but like, yours was. I was like, wow, there's something really, really special here. So tell me, how did you find founder? How'd you find Founder plus, like, how did you find us?
- [07:50]
Tori Gill
Yeah, so when I started the process, I came home from Manly and I was like, phone in like manufacturing companies around Australia. And I soon found out that sunscreen is probably the hardest product to do. Like, the minimum orders are massive, it's really expensive. And at first I thought I was like, okay, I. I need somebody that knows what they're doing to help me. Like, that's what my initial thing was. I've got the idea, but I just need somebody that's maybe really good at marketing or knows how to run an E commerce brand or has done it before. And meanwhile, I was getting your ads. Obviously they work read my mind. And I just started like looking into it a little bit more. I seen Greta's course first and I went to purchase that. And then I realized that you can actually become a founder +member and you can get all the courses. So I got that and I just. I think I was pregnant or yeah, I was pregnant with my second son at the time and I started the starting scale program and then after doing that, I realized that I actually didn't need anyone that knew what they're doing because I pretty much had learned everything. And I then that gave me the confidence to be like, actually I think I know what I'm doing. And then I like downloaded like Alibaba and then like learn how to talk to manufacturing companies through like what you guys teach. And at first, before I'd done the Video on how to talk to manufacturing companies. I was just messaging like, hey, I need to make a hat. Or like I wasn't really like getting anywhere and then realizing like, okay, you have to like actually talk to them like professionally and make them realize that you're going to be like a long term customer. And then like everything kind of changed after, after that.
- [09:28]
N Channel
Yeah. So, so tell me, when did you, when did you go, okay, I'm going all in on this. How long did it take to find your manufacturer and kind of work? So you're working on the brand, working on idea. How long did it take to find your manufacturer and go, yep, this is, this is me.
- [09:46]
Tori Gill
So with the sunscreen it probably took like a few months of looking at different manufacturing companies in Australia. And then once I found them I, they asked me if they wanted to, if they wanted them to find the manufacturer for the tubes in the boxes. And at first I said yes, but they were going to cost like it was so expensive because obviously they put their margins on it. So then I was like, no, I'm going to try and look myself. So I found three different manufacturing companies of Alibaba for the tubes and I got samples made of all of them to see who I preferred. And they were so different, each sample was so different. And I basically just picked the best one. And I didn't know this at the time, but my manufacturing company that make the sunscreen they use, the one that I picked, it was just like, yeah, it was just like complete coincidence that I was like, these are who making my tubes. And they were like, no way. That's actually one of our manufacturing companies. So like I knew at that point, I'm like, okay, so they're obviously pretty good. They gave me the best sample and um, and that's how I managed to, to get the manufacturing company for the tubes. And then I've got hats and brushes and stuff as well. And I just, yeah, again just like searched on Alibaba and got samples made from a few different people and picked picture I thought was the best.
- [11:01]
N Channel
Yeah, there you go. So it's really clever. I love what you've done with these, you know, complementary products to the sunscreen with the hat and then the brushes to apply. And you've made it really fun in the marketing around. I want to talk about that more. But talk me through kind of MOQ because like some people watching this video be like, oh wow, you know, brands growing so fast, zero to six figures in 12 months. But like what was the size of the MOQ right. Like, how many, like, work? How do you work through that?
- [11:31]
Tori Gill
So with the Sunscreen, it was 5,000 units, and which is actually, like, not that much compared to other sunscreen companies. I was quite limited in who I could use because most of them were like, 100,000 units. And, like, I didn't know at the time how much each unit was going to cost, but I was like, even if it costs a dollar, that's 100 grand that I don't have. So, yeah, like, it's. It's very, very high being a sunscreen. So it is a big investment, which is probably why there wasn't many competitors.
- [12:02]
N Channel
Yeah. And talk me through. You said it was one of the hardest things to do. Why?
- [12:06]
Tori Gill
Because in Australia, a sunscreen is actually a medicine, so it has to be listed by the TGA to call it a sunscreen. So you legally cannot sell sunscreen here and call it a sunscreen. You can call it like a sun Bam or something else, but you can't call it a sunscreen unless it has been tested and approved by the tga and their regulations are, like, the strictest in the world. And because it is a sunscreen, every other country has got their own regulations. So I've just now got it approved to sell in the uk, but that was a whole other process. And if we want to sell it in America, we have to get it FDA approved. So, like, each country is different, so you can't sell it in the country unless they've been approved by that country because it's a medicine.
- [12:57]
N Channel
Wow. So that's even more impressive. So basically all your sales are coming from whole Australia. Wow.
- [13:03]
Tori Gill
Yeah.
- [13:03]
N Channel
Okay.
- [13:04]
Tori Gill
I've had a couple from New Zealand. Because we can sell it in New Zealand.
- [13:06]
N Channel
Yeah.
- [13:07]
Tori Gill
But like a few in New Zealand, but majority is. Is all Australia.
- [13:12]
N Channel
Yeah, There you go. And how long did that. Once you found your. Obviously your manufacturers for the. The bottles, but. And then also the hats and the brushes, and then you've also got the sunscreen, the formulation. How long did that whole process take, plus the approvals?
- [13:28]
Tori Gill
Oh, probably. Well, from when I was like, okay, we're actually doing this, like, this is. The branding was finished. Like, I'd had samples of, like, the tubes and the sunscreen was. It was probably February. And then we launched in. Or maybe it was a bit later. It was probably like, yeah, May. And then we launched in December. So.
- [13:51]
N Channel
Yeah. So about six, six, seven months.
- [13:54]
Tori Gill
Yeah. From like when we hit, like, go, like. Yeah, yeah. But then I was planning on launching in October, but that didn't happen because obviously just time frames, like, I had problems with. They sent me my tubes and then I was like, yep, they're perfect. So then I got the sample of the product into the tube and they sent them to me and they like, looked see through. The chips looked see through. And I was like, oh, my God, the tubes are see through. So then I had to like, go back to the manufacturing company and say, hold, tubes are see through. I need you to put another layer in the tube so that it's not see through. So then they put another layer in the tube, but they told me it was white, but they actually put gray. So then when the tubes came, they were green. So I had green tubes and I was going to the UK to visit my family like a week later and I had to like, make a call, what to do. It was so stressful. I was like, do I have green tubes? Do I have see through tubes? And then I realized that the original tube wasn't actually see through. The reason that I thought it, I thought it was see through was the manufacturing company had only put a little bit of product in there. Yeah. And like, nothing had. No air had got into it yet. And lots of tubes actually are a little bit see through if you, like, put them up to the light and you haven't squeezed them yet. But I didn't know that until I went into Mecca and I was looking at every single tube, I was bringing them out the box and like putting it up to light. And I'm like, oh, actually a lot of tubes are a little bit see through. It's fine. But yeah, so that was like a bit of a drama. So that kind of pushed things back because I was like, put everything on hold. I need you to make me new samples. And then when they were green, it was a nightmare. So, yeah, so then that pushed us back a little bit. And then obviously freight coming in for Christmas time. So the tubes weren't coming from China, but everyone delivers, wants to get stuff in the country to sell for Christmas. So then they were stuck on a boat for like a week at the port. So that was stressful. And then finally they were like, okay, we've, we've got them off the, we've got them out the container. They're on the way to manufacturing company. And I had to phone them being like, please, can you fit me in? And they said, we can fit you in in like a week and a half. So then that was fine. And then I had to get them to Melbourne and then I literally they said, we can get them to you, but TGA have to approve it again in your final packaging, that batch. And I was like, okay, how long does that take? They said, it can take one to two weeks. So they said, we will send you it, but it's under quarantine. You cannot open the sunscreen. So it was sitting ready to be sold, wasn't allowed to open it. They emailed me on the Friday before Christmas saying, your approval from the TGA has been accepted. You can now sell the sunscreen. And I had to make a call where I was like, okay, do I launch on Monday? Which is like, in a couple days, just before Christmas. And then I was like, actually, wait. Boxing Day would be a good day because mums aren't out shopping. Like, lots of people are stressed before Christmas. But I thought Boxing Day is great because kids have all got their toys, they're playing, parents are relaxed, they're on their phones. And obviously, like, Boxing Day sales, a lot of people were shopping on their phones. So then I made the call to launch on the Boxing Day, which was, I don't know, four or five days after I got their approval to. To. To sell it.
- [17:08]
N Channel
Yeah. Wow. There you go. So talk me through that first sale. Who was it? Was it a family member?
- [17:15]
Tori Gill
Boxing Day wasn't, you know, that, like. So the day before, on Christmas Day, I made a video. I said, hadn't told anyone until Christmas Day. I was like, I'm going live tomorrow. I'm like, set your alarms 10am we are going live tomorrow, Boxing Day. And because I'd built up a little bit of a following on my social media, so I started posting in June or July pictures, reels. And I built up, I think we had like 2,000 followers, like, as we launched. And I would make lots of reels because I think people get this wrong where if you post photographs, they don't go to anyone except from your followers, but if you post reels, they get spread to other people that aren't following you, and then that will gain you followers. So I was making a lot of reels and then boosting them so that it would be spread to more people and it would be like, this is this new sunscreen. This is how it rubs in. Like, we're launching soon. So, yeah, we built up this following and it built up hype, I guess, around the brand. So when it came to launching on Boxing Day, I said that the first 10 people, I wanted to, like, get people to order. So I was like, if you're one of the first 10 people to order, I will give you a free gift. And I said, it could be a brush, it could be a cap, a bucket hat, it could be a full other bottle of sunscreen. You could get two for the price one. So it kind of like put the pressure on people to order fast. And we went live at 10am and honestly, the first order was 10am I actually do not know how somebody navigated through a new website that they'd never been on before and ordered. They must have just gone like, click, click, click, click, click, buy sunscreen. And then it was like I was planning on going live on Instagram to be like and talk through the first 10 orders because I thought it was going to be a bit slower. But it was like, cha ching, cha ching, cha ching. Like, I got like 10 orders, like super fast. So that was exciting. And then obviously I made a little video when I was packing those 10 orders to prove to people that, okay, this is Danny from wa. She ordered the sunscreen. I'm going to put a hat in her in her order because she was like our fifth customer. And like, out of those 10, two people I knew. So I actually didn't know the rest of them. And our first day, we made $4,000 of sales.
- [19:31]
N Channel
Wow.
- [19:32]
Tori Gill
Yeah.
- [19:32]
N Channel
That's awesome.
- [19:34]
Tori Gill
Yeah. So it was pretty impressive. Obviously, Like, I was like, oh my God. Like, I was happy with one. Like, I was like, if I sell one, I'll be happy. So, yeah, to do 4,000 was, was pretty good.
- [19:45]
N Channel
That's awesome. Yeah, look, I remember my first day launching Healthish time marked water bottle brand. We did like, it was like 1500 or $2000 and we were stoked. Yeah, it was awesome. I remember having a couple of wines celebrating. It's such an awesome feeling and experience that you've put out this brand that you have no skills or experience or not even really. You don't feel qualified to create this thing and people are buying it.
- [20:12]
Tori Gill
Yeah, no, I know. It was, it was amazing. Like, obviously that didn't continue doing 4,000 every day, which was expected. Like, your launch is always going to be like your best day at first because, like, yeah, I obviously created hype around it and I, I gave people that incentive to buy fast because I was going to give them a gift. And of course there was lots of like, family and friends and the rest of the orders, but it never really, like, dropped below. I don't think we've ever done, like, we've never done no orders. I don't think we've ever Done even less than, like, seven or eight orders even in the first, like, few weeks. So it's never. We never, never had a day of not, like, selling any. And I also, when I was, before I launched, we run a few ads to get people to sign up. So we had, like, 250 people on our email list. So we, like, would run. I ran, like, videos of, like, me putting sunscreen on the kids, saying, like, this is this new sun. This is why mums around Australia are switching to mineral sunscreen. And it kind of like, hooked people in and then said, like, we're launching soon. Sign up now to find out when. So, like, we. Yeah, we had built up, like, I think it was like 200 emails. And so then the day before I launched, I emailed everyone to say that we were going live tomorrow. And then the day off in the morning, I sent another email to say, like, we are live. And then everyone got a 10% off code that had signed up as well.
- [21:38]
N Channel
Okay, awesome. So can you talk to us around the budget? Because I know a lot of people watching this kind of thinking, you know, wow. All right, well, first of all, you got to be part of the Found plus community, because we do these grants we're going to start doing once every six months. But besides the grant, like, what was your kind of initial budget to launch this brand?
- [21:56]
Tori Gill
My initial budget, when I wrote it all out was like $60,000.
- [22:02]
N Channel
Wow. That's a lot.
- [22:04]
Tori Gill
And it was more than that.
- [22:05]
N Channel
Wow.
- [22:06]
Tori Gill
So it was probably all up about almost $100,000.
- [22:11]
N Channel
Yeah. Wow. Okay.
- [22:13]
Tori Gill
Yeah. So it's a big investment. Like a huge investment.
- [22:16]
N Channel
Yes.
- [22:16]
Tori Gill
But as I said, it's because it's sunscreen. So if it wasn't sunscreen, then it would have been a lot cheaper. And yeah, it is. It is a big investment. But we also. I also, like, put a lot of money into our photo shoot and campaign. Yes. Which is what's made the brand, I guess, what it is, because I think people would think I was crazy because I. A lot of people out there say that you don't need to put lots of money into, like, photo shoots and you can do it on your iPhone now, which you can. But I wanted to stand out, and I wanted to make this brand look very cool. So by doing that, I had to invest in, like, a good photographer, get models, and I wanted to have that feeling of, like, okay, this needs to look cool, so how can I make it look cool? Exactly what I was saying. It's just a bottle. So I, like, styled all the the models myself got, like, lots of cool outfits, styled them all, created this huge shoot. And if you look at it, now that I see it, you'll notice it. You actually can't tell it's for sunscreen. I spent all this money on this shoot. I wanted it to be like this, though. I said to the photographer, I don't want you to capture the product. I want you to capture children having fun and the feeling of summer. Like, so we're like selling this feeling, the fun, kids being in nature, kids being outside, which is a lot of what big brands do. Like Nike and stuff. They don't, like, post their product all the time. I was like, we're selling the summer feeling. And she captured that amazing of just like the kids having fun outside and enjoying nature. And that's what our whole brand is about. It's just, yeah, kids enjoying the outdoors, basically. So, yeah, I feel like it was big investment to do a campaign like that, but I think it definitely paid off because it automatically put our brands above other brands who are, say, not got as good quality content.
- [24:14]
N Channel
Yeah. Look, you've done a fantastic job with the brand. And look, it's interesting. Like, when I started the Healthish brand, that started with about a $20,000 investment. Yeah, it was about $10,000 on stock. Eight to $10,000 on stock. And then the rest we just doubled down. Like, you know, it was like we bought the healthish.com domain that was like three grand. Like, we didn't have to do that. Like, I just wanted to double down on brand. And at the time, it made sense. Right. So I think sometimes when you lean into brand a little more, yes, it's going to be expensive, but it pays its weight in gold.
- [24:53]
Tori Gill
Yeah.
- [24:54]
N Channel
Like, I never forget as well. When I first started founder, you know, I was designing the magazine covers, and I was like, looking at this one designer that was looking. This other designer was much more expensive. And I said to him, you're too expensive. And he said to me, nathan, if you place a bigger emphasis on design in the early days of your brand, it will pay its weight in gold in the long term.
- [25:21]
Tori Gill
Yeah.
- [25:22]
N Channel
And I did that. And he was right. And that was something that I'll never forget. Like, whatever brand that I launch in the future, I will always just double down on brand because it is so powerful, because it gets you that cut through. And that's what you're getting right now.
- [25:34]
Tori Gill
Yeah.
- [25:35]
N Channel
Right. So, okay, so talk me through. I guess you launched. How are you growing this thing? Because it's growing Pretty fast.
- [25:45]
Tori Gill
Yeah, I think a couple things, like we are doing meta ads. I've just started to do TikTok. Yeah, I wasn't that familiar with TikTok. I didn't have it before. So I'm just starting to go on the platform more, getting used to that and going to work on growing our TikTok now. But yeah, just through Instagram mostly. I feel like a lot of moms my age are on Instagram as well. And obviously people are on TikTok too. But I am the market, which makes it easier. So, like, I know that I'm the market. So, like, what do I want to see? And I think just educating people as well around sunscreen. And yes, obviously the meta ads, they help. I was saying to Leah before, like, just like, for instance, like one day, like, our sales were not at our target. Like, we have a target every day. That I give myself a target every day. And I was like, okay, how can I get this target up? It was like 1:00 in the afternoon. I was like, I want to try and like, get people to purchase now to get our target up. So I decided to jump on Instagram. We got wet bags, which are. A wet bag is like where you put after swimming. You put the wet clothes in and it keeps it, like away from everything else. Keeps the wet stuff in there. It's the waterproof bags. And I was like, all right, if anyone orders in the next 15 minutes, I'll give you a free wet bag. And it was like instant. Like, I made a reel, put it on the reel, posted it, and then put it on my story. I was like. And I said the time. I always forget that, like, there's different time zones. So I was like, okay, 4:00pm in Melbourne, I think it was like 4:00pm In Melbourne, actually. And I was like, at 4:00pm So I put the video out at like 12. And I said, at 4:00 p. For 15 minutes only, I will give every order a wet bag. If you, if you order between 4 and 4:15 Melbourne time. And I, I wrote the times of like the other cities, like whatever time it would be in their city. And like within like five minutes, it was like orders or were like, I think we give away, like, we ended up giving away like seven or eight bags in like those 15 minutes. And then we hit our target for the day more. Because, like, they didn't just buy. They just didn't just buy one sunscreen. Maybe they bought two sunscreens or two sunscreens and a hat. And then like, I Gave them a wet bag. So it like kind of just forced people to. To purchase straight away. So doing little things like that, like one day I went on Live on Instagram and same thing, I was like, hey, I'm live. If you guys order while I'm live, I'll give you a free gift in your purchase. I'll show you what it is. So yeah, doing things like that really help to just like get people to. If they're on the fence, it like kind of forces them or pushes them. Not forces them, it pushes them to, to make that purchase. Because everyone loves something free.
- [28:32]
N Channel
Yeah. So let's talk about that gift with purchase. Yeah, because obviously it would have cost you more money to order the hats, the bags, the brushes. You launched with not just that one hero product. You've got complimentary products, which obviously increases your average order value, which I think is very clever because you know when you're using Facebook ads, you want to get that AOV up and you want it, you want to get that return. But talk me through that. Like, where'd you come up with that idea?
- [28:59]
Tori Gill
So obviously I learned that from doing the course. Like, I realized that you have to have like cross sell and upsell products. And I was like, okay, so the cross sale for a sunscreen would be an applicator. And how can I make an applicator fun? And there was a big like video on Tick tock that everyone kept doing using their like mum's like foundation brushes. Kids were like putting makeup on. And I was like, as a boy mom, like, I don't want my son to use like a makeup brush, like putting makeup on. So I was like, I want to make a paintbrush. So like they were like custom made. I had to like find a manufacturing company that specialized in makeup brushes, but then would get like a paintbrush handle and like combine them and make it like that's not like a off the shelf. Like. Yeah. So it took a while to find somebody that would actually make that for me. And makeup brushes aren't that expensive to make. And so I knew that that was going to be like the cross sale to the sunscreen. And then our whole mission as a brand is to protect children's skin from the sun. So I was like, okay, well we need hats and we need sunglasses. So I was always playing around with like different caps and different bucket hats and. And I just found a couple manufacturing companies, got some sample made early on, like when my branding was cream and brown, I actually had like brown and cream hats made, like right from back in 2023. And my son wore them like, over and over again. So we tested them for like a year, so I knew the quality was good. And then when I flipped it to red and then like, I just made like new red hats and cream hats and then got them made and everyone loved them. Like, and then I could use them in bundles to help get my average order value. So, like the sunscreens, $39.95 and our average order value is like 75 to $80.
- [30:54]
N Channel
Perfect.
- [30:55]
Tori Gill
So it's like. Yeah. And that's just from either bundling the sunscreen together where people like, can buy three and they save money, or it's from them getting the bundle of the hats and the brushes. And people love the brushes. Like, if people message me saying my kids hate putting sunscreen on, but you give them a paintbrush and they don't want to stop, they use half the ball, which is great for me because then they have to order more.
- [31:16]
N Channel
That's awesome. Yeah. So look, one thing that people don't talk about enough when it comes to Facebook ads is you need a decent average order value to make the unit economics work. And you need to. You need to be at least $60 plus. Like, that's. That's a strange. Even that's pushing it $60 Australian. So that's awesome. That's really clever. I love how you did that. That's super smart. We have to work towards wrapping up. But I want to talk about something I think is really important. It's a massive trend I'm seeing in the marketplace, which is around founder led content. And you're doing a fantastic job where people know you, people know Tori. People. When they think of Tori, I think of son and daughter. When people think of son of daughter, they think of Tori. Because you're always out there and you're showing behind the scenes. You know, I've taken screenshots, like, showing my girlfriend, like, how amazing this, you know, this person we supported through the community. Look how, look how many boxes she's packing. Like, how cool is this? We've been able to help her in some way, shape or form. Like, you're doing a fantastic job. How did you work out? That's what you need to do. How did you kind of build up that courage to put yourself out there? Because that is tough. Even just working on the platforms like, this is your first business. You've never done anything like this before. It's impressive.
- [32:30]
Tori Gill
Yeah, I think it's just practice, like, and it's also like not caring like what other people think is like the main thing is like if you care too much about what other people think. And like half the videos that I do like, I don't put makeup on, I just like I'm in the house, the kids are making a mess, my house is a mess. But like it's just like in that moment I'm like, I need to do a video about this and not overthinking it and just like putting it out there and just posting it and like not worrying about it being perfect. Not worrying about like and that's the, the ones that do the best really. Like all of our ads constantly making new content. But all of the ads that actually convert, there's like a few of them that just convert the best. And like none of them are my beautiful photography. So like all those beautiful photography photos, none of them convert when it's ads. They are great for my website and my brand and I love them for my like esthetically pleasing Instagram. But when it comes to like making a sale through the ad, they, they don't convert. All the ones that convert is me talking because I think people can relate. Especially because I say I'm a mum of two. So moms automatically will take other mom's advice rather than buy from a big company they don't know. So yeah, just me talking to the camera about this is what the sunscreen is. This is why you need to buy it for your child. And this is what we're doing. They're the ones that convert. So like, yeah, just the more videos I do talking to the camera just, it becomes easy once, once you do a few and you just, I think you have to just feel like you're talking to your friends, like you're on Facetime. And that's what people love because they, they watch you and they feel like they know you so then they trust you. And then when it comes to them wanting to buy sunscreen, they will buy end up buying from you because they feel like they personally know you. And yeah, yeah.
- [34:16]
N Channel
And this is the power of founder led content, especially building an E commerce brand. And they say you can compete with big brands. Right? Because only one you.
- [34:25]
Tori Gill
Yeah.
- [34:26]
N Channel
So, okay, we have to work towards wrapping up, but I just wanted to kind of go through what is next. Like your brand is growing super fast. You're on track. You know, you're doing tens of thousands of dollars every month in sales. It's growing super fast. What is next? And like you're doing this as well while you're still working your job, right?
- [34:47]
Tori Gill
Yeah. So I.
- [34:49]
N Channel
And. And you're a busy mom, too. Like, it's kind of insane.
- [34:52]
Tori Gill
I know.
- [34:53]
N Channel
It's only you.
- [34:54]
Tori Gill
It's just me. Yeah. So next we are launching a body wash. So essentially, I want, like, a step process. So it's like, step one, you protect your children's skin. Step two, you come home, you wash it off. And step three, you moisturize. Right. So, like, they're like, our, like, products. So we are launching a body wash, essentially, like, sunscreen removal, if that makes sense. So you take the sunscreen off. That's why it kind of, like, goes as a partner product. It's been so much harder than what I thought it. Oh, it's been a nightmare. I've gone through, like, four different manufacturing companies because I am so passionate about the ingredients that go into products. And so many manufacturing companies will want to add lots of different ingredients, lots of different preservatives, lots of different, like, ingredients that are, say, not as natural or that have alcohol in them. And that is not what our brand is about. And I've finally managed to find a smaller manufacturing company who get me and have made the perfect. I was going to say recipe, but formula. The perfect formula for us. And so I'm so happy about that. But it has taken a long time, and I think it's just persevering, like, with everything. Like, I don't like taking no as an answer. Like, I'll just keep going and I'll like, okay, well, then I'll move on to a different manufacturing company. Because I got told, no, you have to have these ingredients in it. Like, you have to have this. And I was like, no, I don't want that. So I'll just move to somebody else. So it's been hard. Like, it definitely has been harder, but I want to stick to my guns of the brand. And it's basically like, ingredients is our most important thing. If I don't want to put on my children's skin, why would somebody else want to put on their children's skin? So, yeah, I think that's what's going to set us apart from other brands, especially because there's lots of body washes out there, but ours, I feel, will be one of the best, especially, like, with the ingredients that we're using. And then we have another sunscreen launching, which is exciting. I can't tell you much about it because it's very exciting, but we will be launching that hopefully by October, November, so just in time for summer. Here. And yeah, the few more products that we want to come out and obviously bring out some more hats and different colors as well. But essentially we want to be like natural children's skincare brand. So sun is definitely like, our main focus, but vouching out to different other skincare products that children use on their skin. And it's a really good thing to do because obviously with an E Commerce brand, you want people to come back and buy. And people are constantly using body wash, people are constantly using sunscreen. So, like, that's where we'll get that repeat purchase.
- [37:42]
N Channel
Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. So I have to ask you the. The question that a lot of people think is, where do you find the time? It's just you. You're still working your day job as a hairdresser as well. 1. Where do you find the time? And. And surely you have to work towards going all in on this soon, right?
- [38:00]
Tori Gill
Yeah, well, honestly, I do so much on my phone, so, like, I could, like, be sending emails at the park. I'll be pushing like, one child on the swing and, like, the other ones, like, playing in the sandpit. And I'm sending an email, which is good and bad because obviously, like, you want to be, like, present with your kids by the same time you, like, want to be, like, working and, like, doing this. So, like, a lot of the time I do things on my phone, but I also just do it when the kids are sleeping. Like, it's probably why I've got bags under my eyes. Like, I. They'll go to sleep at seven and I'm straight on my laptop. Like, people ask me all the time, oh, do you watch this program on Netflix? Have you seen this movie? I'm like, no. Like, I don't have time to sit down and watch tv. Like, my partner will sit down and, like, watch a documentary and I'll be like, straight on. Like that. To me, that is just wasting my time. So, like, I'll just be straight on the laptop and I'll be like, straight, like, onto Alibaba, like, getting samples of new hats made. Or I come up with this idea and I like, I'm quite fast. Like, when I thought of the wet bags, it was like, all right, design a wet bag, went into Canva, pick the colors, find a manufacturing company, give me a sample. Like, no. So, like, yeah, I just. I think you just make it work. And I work as a barber still on a Monday and Tuesday afternoon and on a Saturday. But, like, my eldest son's now in kinder two days A week. So my mother and I've got a good family around and my mother in law comes around and takes the youngest one off me for a few hours and I can just pump out some work and packing orders normally in the evenings or the mornings. And last night me and my partner were up till midnight packing orders. He was, he was taping the boxes and I was. And I was packing them because we did. This is one bit of advice I'd give somebody. Actually we did a little collaboration with her name's Boob to Food. She's got a big following mom following and she posted for us yesterday and make sure that you have enough boxes in stock before you do something like this. Because I ran out of boxes last night, like packing boxes because I was like, I didn't actually know that she was going to post like yesterday. I thought it was going to be next Sunday. But yes, I was like packing and halfway through pack and I was like, oh my God, we've run out of small boxes. I had medium sized so it was fine. But yeah, that's something I would recommend. If you're going to do like a giveaway or something with an influencer or somebody that's got a lot of followers, make sure you've got your enough boxes.
- [40:21]
N Channel
That's a good problem to have though.
- [40:22]
Tori Gill
That's not a great problem to have. And I definitely also recommend that there's a difference between people that influence people and or who are an influencer. A lot of influencers who have got big following people watch them for entertainment. They're not like people aren't always following them and they're going to buy everything that they recommend and sometimes as well. Like mum influencers for instance, they were not always a mum so a lot of their following could be boys. There were hot girls, like lots of guys follow them. That's no good to me. Like I did a giveaway with this girl and she has a brand that's literally about what to feed your baby after milk. So her followers are all all moms. So that's why it worked really well for us because her following is exactly my audience.
- [41:12]
N Channel
Yeah, that's clever. Yeah, awesome. Well look, we have to wrap there. This has been an incredible interview. We're probably going have to get you to come back because you're only two months in. This business is booming. I assume that you'll be going full time on this pretty soon, right? You're going to have to, right?
- [41:29]
Tori Gill
Yeah, hopefully. I mean I have a very expensive mortgage and so my work pays for that, if I'm honest. And everything that we make from the brand, it goes straight back in. Like we're making new sunscreen. As I said, we've got new sunscreen coming. We've got body wash coming. Like all of those cost money. We've got new hats to order. So like, eventually, hopefully I can get cut down on people's hair, which some of my clients will not be too happy about. But yeah, and then hopefully one day go on and hopefully I outgrow my. My spare bedroom.
- [42:01]
N Channel
Yeah. There you go. Well, look, congratulations on all your success thus far. It's really inspiring what you've been able to build and just watch your journey from afar these past few months as I've got to, you know, learn about you and your brand and son and daughter and all the things you're doing. I have no doubt that we'll have to get you back in the next six to 12 months to do a follow up to see where you're at. But congratulations on all your success.
- [42:24]
Tori Gill
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
- [42:26]
N Channel
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 multi million dollar business.
- [42:37]
Tori Gill
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.
- [42:46]
N Channel
Yes.
- [42:46]
Tori Gill
And then we also obviously add our flair to it. You need to differentiate your product.