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In This Episode You’ll Hear About:

• [02:12] Greg talks about the recent changes in San Francisco, growing up in Los Angeles, and the family values present in his home.

• [09:52] Entering the beauty industry and finding purpose in professional life.

• [18:07] Challenges that Greg and the company faced around sourcing ingredients after launching.

• [21:40] The key products that Innersense brought to market initially and more recently.

• [26:47] Greg reflects on the biggest challenges and surprises on his journey with Innersense; demand, marketing, and the 2008 recession.

• [32:20] Moments of learning and self-doubt, and the fundamental place these have in the life of an entrepreneur.

• [35:40] People, planet, and purpose; Greg shares why standards for the cosmetic industry are so important to him.

• [39:35] Thoughts on growing as a leader and allowing increased autonomy for the team.

• [45:15] Advice from Greg about pivoting, learning, and a steadfast attitude.

 To Find Out More:

Awesome CX

Innersense Organic Beauty

Greg Starkman on LinkedIn

Lee Greene on LinkedIn

Lee Greene Email

Stairway to CEO

Stairway to CEO on Instagram

 Quotes:

“As a kid, I did a lot of different things. I would work and earn extra money in salons sweeping hair, and I would actually fill product vats for my mom.” [0:07:32]

“In my early teens I definitely became that wayward kid that was always out and about, and always in some level of trouble.”  [0:08:00]

“Even though we were very affluent growing up, there were never any handouts.”  [0:08:42]

“I was kind of a late bloomer, I never really figured out what I wanted to do until I was probably in my early 20s. And I think at that point I felt like I found some level of purpose when I got into the beauty industry.” [0:09:38]

“We took that cosmetic ingredient standard and brought that into hair care.” [0:15:25]

“It literally took a good ten years for us to even spark at the level of scalability.” [0:16:24]

“We made a commitment from day one to work with ingredients that were very pure, and highly efficacious.” [0:19:18]

“It doesn't matter how clean or how organic a product is, if it doesn't perform, the consumer is not going to come back and buy it.” [0:19:34]

“It's just about continuing to educate and inform the safe cosmetic consumer who is looking to make healthier and cleaner choices, and do it in a very authentic way.” [0:21:28]

“We have been very intentional over the last 18 years with the types of products we introduce. Believe it or not, we only have 22 products.” [0:23:37]

“It was just perseverance, and an unwillingness to fail.” [0:30:11]