In This Episode You’ll Hear About:

• How her go-getter nature kept her busy in college with internships and jobs leading to a job in PR and a realization that PR was not her long term goal
• Why a marketing job at Estee Lauder Companies was a better fit for her and became the start of what now has been 20 years in the beauty industry
• What led Allison to Mac Cosmetics and then L’Oreal Paris while she was getting her MBA and learning about digital marketing
• Why she left L’Oreal to work for AOL
• What led Allison to work for an Australian skincare company called Jurlique, and then Beautycounter
• How she became more and more interested in not only clean and natural skincare but also aluminum-free deodorant and took the opportunity during maternity leave to investigate an idea for a better aluminum-free deodorant 
• How she launched type:A as a DTC brand initially and was confident in herself and in the network she had built over the many years she had worked in the beauty industry
• How she went from bootstrapping type:A to raising $2.4 million and what advice she has for founders who are preparing or in the midst of fundraising
• Why time management has been crucial for Allison as a CEO and ways to keeps that in check
• What she has learned as a CEO about herself and about running a successful business and also a hint of what is exciting things are coming in the future for type:A

‍To Find Out More:

typeadeodorant.com‍

Quotes:‍

“I very much have approached my career as one foot in front of another.”

“I think the biggest takeaway is you have to go after what you want. It doesn't just fall into your lap. You have to make your own opportunities.”

“Be humble and open to constructive feedback.”

“The more I surround myself with the people who treat me the way I want to be treated and vice versa and are sort of positive influences, the negative falls away.”

“There's so much I know that I feel confident I can execute. And there's so much I don't know, but I know who to call that I trust will be a great advisor or can point me in the right direction or can get me the right resource.”

“You just got to keep talking and talking and talking and sharing your story and fine-tuning your pitch and really also figuring out what it is about your business that is worth investing in. And if it is, then investors can get behind it.”

“At the end of the day, it's all relationships.” 

“It's so true when they say the investor needs to believe in the founder. It is about the business. It's about the potential, but it's also believing the founder can take the business there.”

“I learned over many conversations with investors that if an investor is sort of pushing in the line of questioning around you, your company, or your product, and it's not aligned with where your strategy is going, there may not be a fit there.” 

“So really trust your gut in it's a two-way street and this person, even if they're not super active, is still going to be part of your company in a way.” 

“Just kind of following the trail and just continuing to have conversations, the ones that aren't productive are productive in a different way that you're not expecting.”

“But this is something that I learned out of my experience in the beauty industry was ownership of your formula leads to more control and that can translate to more transparency. And that's what we're all about.”

“The biggest thing that I've learned, or I'd say the most impactful practice that I've been able to put in place is insane time management.” 

“I think time, the value of my time, has been something I've never put as much emphasis and focus on until I became CEO.”

“Things that have served me really well are having confidence in myself and my abilities and being open with myself and just kind of very self-aware and constantly challenging myself to say, do you know this well enough? Is there somebody else that you can ask?”

“Believe that you know something really well. You have a great product. You have a great concept. Think it through. Stress test it, and be open to the tough feedback that will ultimately make it a better fit for the market, make it a better business, and give you a  better platform to launch and grow.”