The real PuraU story, from her own acne to a brand that actually works – with Founder, Acacia

[: 00:00:00

[00:00:01] ** Acacia:** Terrible. Yeah. We, we thought you'd launch a website and people would just like find you. And, I don't think we made a sale for like two weeks.

[: 00:00:10

[00:00:13] ** Acacia:** it all happened really fast, but when it went live, I think we made $160,000 in like an hour Wow

[: 00:00:22

[00:00:26] ** Acacia:** it took us, like, three years to even get to that point. So three years before breaking through, three years before making a profit, three years before paying ourselves.

[: 00:00:37

[00:00:41] ** Acacia:** I think, people get stuck in this, like, cycle of comparison, and, like, comparison is the thief of joy,

[: 00:00:47

[00:00:53] ** Acacia:** "Oh, I can't start until I have enough money because I have to pay other people." But it's like, no, just, like, get out of your own way and do it yourself.

[: 00:01:01

[00:01:05] ** Acacia:** The more we learnt about marketing, we knew that that was the most powerful thing. Like, learning how to speak to your customer and kind of meet them where they're at.

​Before we dive in, just a quick little love note from us. If this podcast has ever made you laugh, cry, think, or feel seen, please hit that subscribe button. It's the easiest way to keep the magic going and it helps us land more incredible guests for you.

Go on back, your girls, subscribe now and let's keep rising together.

[: 00:01:35

Hey, Sam. It's

[: 00:01:41

[00:01:45] Jen: really cold.

[: 00:01:46

She always said, I always say, "It's freezing." And she goes, "What shoes do you have on your feet?" And I can say that to you right now- Yeah ... 'cause is it actually that freezing, Jen, 'cause you've got thongs on.

[: 00:02:07

[00:02:12] Samara: off is too hard.

I actually got new shoes- To do the same thing ... because we like your shoes.

[: 00:02:16

[00:02:16] Samara: When I say we, Lee and I were like, "Ooh, we need Jenny's shoes."

[: 00:02:19

[00:02:24] ** Acacia:** are. You're like, "That's what they should look

[: 00:02:26

[00:02:26] Samara: Yeah. This was a trial gift to myself.

[: 00:02:28

[00:02:31] Samara: time.

[: 00:02:32

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I think I really love listening to our guest talk because I... We've known her for ages. We're super proud of what she's built and achieved, but she's also very real-

[: 00:02:58

[00:02:59] Jen: about what that journey has looked like. So-

[: 00:03:03

[00:03:05] ** Acacia:** Yeah.

[: 00:03:06

[00:03:07] Samara: I'm actually only 19 years

[: 00:03:10

So Acacia and her partner, Reva, have?

[: 00:03:20

[00:03:20] Jen: Pure You. I should know it. It's sitting on my bench at home.

[: 00:03:24

[00:03:31] Jen: Yes. Ah. Okay. So circa many years ago, How long

[: 00:03:36

[00:03:37] Jen: for?

Yeah.

[: 00:03:38

[00:03:41] Jen: How old are you now?

[: 00:03:41

[00:03:43] Jen: Oh. It was old LaSorella.

[: 00:03:45

[00:03:48] ** Acacia:** were the first person I saw.

[: 00:03:49

[00:03:50] Samara: That's right. Yeah. I didn't know that.

[: 00:03:51

[00:03:53] Jen: And then your, and your girlfriend who has the fringe.

[: 00:03:55

[00:03:56] Samara: Has she had the baby yet?

[: 00:03:57

[00:03:59] Samara: close. Yeah, okay.

[: 00:03:59

[00:04:00] Samara: As soon as you walked in, I was like, I know you'll be, y- we'll know the baby's here 'cause you were in her maternity photo.

[: 00:04:05

And Shenae's like, "Fuck yeah, get her in a photo." Pushed Andy aside and me and Shenae getting photos together. Just sums it up. That's

[: 00:04:17

[00:04:18] ** Acacia:** nice.

[: 00:04:18

She just like, you walked straight in- Yeah ... and hugged me, 'cause the- Yeah ... you knew the news of my life. I'm like, "

[: 00:04:34

[00:04:35] Samara: Yeah. You'll come in and you'll be like, "What's happening?" Yeah. And I'll be like, "This is happening this week." But that's the thing, right, is the n- the coolest thing about this journey is doing life-

[: 00:04:47

[00:04:48] Samara: beside each other. I text you yesterday and was like, "Hey, podcast tomorrow. Also, my nephew needs some supplements. Can you sort it?" Like, and my sister had said to me, "Oh, I actually saw that brand, brand. I just didn't know if it was any good."

And I was like, "Well, I know the people that own it." Yes. And yeah, I love your journey, so I, I would love you to speak into how it happened, what had happened, why you started it-

[: 00:05:10

[00:05:10] Samara: all of the things. Because I think- And especially with a brand like supplements, when you're doing something- Yeah ... that's so internal, it's not just like, "I'm gonna start a clothing brand and get some stuff from China."

Yeah. You were, you actually built this huge business. But also, I'd love you to speak on, you've had, we've talked about your wins and losses personally- Mm ... but also all the things you do, because it's not just about, "Here's an amazing product I have." It's like, "Here's all the marketing I have to do so other people realize that this is an amazing product."

[: 00:05:38

[00:05:38] Samara: But go from the beginning.

[: 00:05:39

But in that time I had pretty much tried everything that, you know, the doctor recommends for acne. I'd been on, I think I was prescribed eight different versions of the pill, because, like, each one kept giving me side effects, so every time I'd go back they were like, "Oh, try Diana." Yeah. And then Diana didn't work, and they're like, "Go on Yasmin.

Do that one instead." What about Estelle? Yeah. Yeah. Estelle. Oh my God, fucking Estelle, honestly. Yeah. I just

[: 00:06:19

[00:06:22] ** Acacia:** I know. So whack. But anyway,

[: 00:06:24

[00:06:32] ** Acacia:** Yeah.

[: 00:06:32

Sterilize them. And everybody's... Yeah, sterilize them. Yeah, they're

[: 00:06:56

[00:06:57] Samara: like, and everyone's like- No hyperactive ... "Hell no." Yeah. "That's horrible. That's horrific. Why would you do that to our sons?" But it's literally what the pill is. But it's literally what we're doing- Yeah ... to our daughters. Yeah. Yeah. Or doing the, Mirena or- Yeah

we're pretty much just sterilizing our daughters.

[: 00:07:09

[00:07:14] Samara: my mom- And also with men, if you do that, they still all shoot and they're fine. But with women- Yeah ... the, what we do to our hormones to stop it- Yeah

is-

[: 00:07:21

[00:07:22] Samara: horrific.

[: 00:07:23

[00:07:35] Samara: Yeah.

[: 00:07:35

[00:07:42] Samara: I'm just trying to be better, but please, you do you, babe.

[: 00:07:44

And at the end of the day, like, none of it ever worked. Um- And so I went on this journey maybe when I turned, like, 18 and I, you know, started thinking for myself, and I was like, "Okay, Mom doesn't have the solution. Doctors don't have the solution. I'm just gonna try and figure this out." And I started seeing a naturopath, and then that's when I, you know, realized that there's so many other things that come into play.

Like, I never even knew how my cycle worked, you know? Mm. And I think some girls, like a lot of girls don't.

[: 00:08:18

[00:08:18] ** Acacia:** Like, we're not taught that in school. We're taught how to put a condom on a banana- Mm ... but we're not taught how to, like, understand our own hormones. Do they still

[: 00:08:25

[00:08:25] ** Acacia:** Well, they did when I was there.

I don't know.

[: 00:08:27

[00:08:28] ** Acacia:** So wild. But, like, they don't teach you the things that you're actually- Yeah ... you know, meant to know about your body. And then so I feel like I started to feel a lot more in control of my own body when I started learning these things. But obviously seeing a naturopath is really expensive.

I think I spent, like, $800 in my first session, and then you go back two weeks later to get your results. And, like, it's amazing, but it's not accessible for a lot of people. Mm, very,

[: 00:08:51

[00:08:52] ** Acacia:** and went through the process of, like, taking liquid herbs every day which, again, like, super powerful but very disgusting.

And Reba was like, "I'm not doing that shit." Mm. And I forced him to do it for a period of time, and it worked. But then his brain kinda got going. Reba's like so ADHD, entrepreneurial. He's like, "Oh my God, there's, like, a better way to do this." And, like, we could probably help more people if, one, we could, you know, remove the fact that they have to see a naturopath-

[: 00:09:17

[00:09:18] ** Acacia:** but create a naturopathic product. And two, not do it in, like, the liquid form so people can just, like, take capsules. Mm. And so it kind of started from there. Um, we worked with naturopaths and microbiologists to create a product basically from what we had learnt on our journey, and obviously what they know that works for acne.

Um, and then that was the product that ended up clearing our own skin, and then we launched a brand from that.

[: 00:09:42

[00:09:46] ** Acacia:** 21? No, Reba was 24. 24. I

[: 00:09:48

[00:09:51] ** Acacia:** Yeah.

[: 00:09:52

[00:09:53] ** Acacia:** No. He, so Reba studied business.

[: 00:09:56

[00:09:56] ** Acacia:** So he's always been, like, he was kind of trying to get started in, like, drop shipping, e-commerce.

Yeah, yeah. But he worked at Woolies. Oh, okay. So he worked at Woolies, like, almost full time. But he was doing lots of, like, business things on the side. Nothing ever really took off. But he always had, like, a mind for that kind of stuff. For that

[: 00:10:12

to start this journey? Like- Like, how did you even kick that off before- Mm ... you even got to the point where you were launching the product?

[: 00:10:31

Yeah. So you've gotta be, like, TGA listed, and we were like, "Okay, we'll start there." So we're looking on the TGA website, and it has this, like, little, um, section down the bottom where you can, like, find a registered, like, TGA consultant who essentially, can help you, like, formulate a product or list a product with the TGA.

So we started there, but there's, like, hundreds of people, and we're like, "What do you even look at?" Yeah, yeah. Like, you know, there might be someone down the road for us, but are they the best person to speak to? Mm. Like, I don't know. Um, and then Reba called up the TGA and was, like, just chatting to someone, and they were like, "Yeah, you can't just, like, come straight to us.

Like, you could go to a manufacturer and get something, like, white labeled," which is where, like- Yeah ... manufacturers have, you know, really kind of basic formulations that then you can just put your label on that. And we were like, "Okay, well, we don't wanna do that, 'cause we have a pretty good idea of, like, what we want it to be, but we need someone with the expertise to, you know, actually create the product."

And then I think it was, it just so happened to be the person on the phone that was like, "Well, I have heard of, like, this really amazing guy, and he has a amazing track record." Um, and he happened to formulate one of the products that we were kind of, like, looking at in the market. Mm. So it wasn't really a competitor, but it was, like, a really amazing product for gut health.

And he had formulated that product. And so we got- Oh, okay ... put into contact with him, and then the process kind of started from there. Like, he was like, "Okay, this is where to start. This is what to do. This is how much I charge. This is what it's like to list a product." And then, you know, the pri- we started, like, getting a good idea for the pricing, and we were like, "Holy shit, this is gonna cost a lot of money," but we had kind of, kind of already started.

So yeah, I think we kind of, like, got lucky in a way, where, like, the person on the phone for the TGA, I mean, I'm sure they're probably not always nice people when you're calling up someone on the phone, but this lady was so nice, and she was like, "Yeah, I know of this guy. Maybe chat to him. He can put you in the right direction."

So, um, yeah, just, like, good timing, I think. But he essentially helped us with everything.

[: 00:12:39

[00:12:45] ** Acacia:** Yeah.

[: 00:12:45

[00:12:46] ** Acacia:** So Riva had a lot of savings. I mean, he was a little bit older than me. I didn't really have many savings.

I was earning, I don't know, maybe, like, three grand a month in nursing. Yeah. So it's just, you know, you do, like, .7, like, seven shifts a fortnight or something. Um, and so yeah, I didn't have a whole lot of money, but I sold my car for, I think that was, like, $30,000 that I got in the bank, and Riva had, yeah, he had a decent amount of savings.

But we ended up putting, like, 250,000 into the brand to start it- Yeah ... and then probably another, like, six figures to keep it going once we had launched.

[: 00:13:20

[00:13:21] ** Acacia:** Yeah.

[: 00:13:21

[00:13:35] ** Acacia:** Mm.

[: 00:13:36

[00:13:37] ** Acacia:** Terrible. Yeah. We, we thought you'd launch a website and people would just like find you. And, um, I don't think we made a sale for like two weeks. And, but it's so funny because like we literally switched the website live and we're sitting there like this. Like so excited. We're like, "Okay, when's it gonna happen?"

And then we were like, "Oh, fuck." Like we literally had no idea what we were doing. We had poured so much into creating a good product and like doing all of the right things. And then, you know, didn't really know anything about marketing, and we have no business experience. Like, we didn't really know anyone at that point.

Like, no one in my family has ran or launched a business. Same for Reva. None of our friends. Like, we didn't know anyone. Um, so we didn't really know what to expect, and yeah, for about, I think, two weeks we didn't make a sale, and then our first sale was like our friend's mum. And then I think my mum placed an order, like a few friends, but it was probably like that for like six months.

And then we got a bit of a breakthrough on ads, like nothing major. But off the back of that, we started pitching to journalists. Yeah. So we were finding like journalists on LinkedIn and finding their emails and like just doing cold outreach to journalists and kind of pitching this story of like, you know, in the midst of COVID, we've launched this brand.

This is the, you know, little bit of success that we've had so far. But we mainly went forward with like the results of the product and what it could achieve. And I think during COVID a lot of people, obviously we were all like locked up.

[: 00:15:03

[00:15:03] ** Acacia:** And people were focusing like on their health, gut health just like boomed during COVID.

Um, and so we led with that, and I think that is what kind of got us in, and a journalist picked up the story.

[: 00:15:16

[00:15:17] ** Acacia:** it? No, that wasn't that yet. No? So we first went, I think News.com picked it up first. Okay. And it was just like a written story, like a written article.

[: 00:15:24

[00:15:25] ** Acacia:** and then that made us, I think, like $60,000 in like a day.

Yeah. And we were like, "What in the world is going on?" Like, we hadn't even made that much in six months. We hadn't even made half that in six months. And this article goes live and, you know, Shopify's going off on our phones. And then because News.com did the story, I think then it was like Daily Mail who then picked up the story- Yeah

as well, 'cause they all kinda just like jump on the same story. And so yeah, that was kind of like our first taste of, I guess, success in a way. We were like, "Oh my God, what is this?" Um-

[: 00:15:57

Mm-hmm. And you were just like, "We'll just fucking cold call any journalist we could find we can find." Yeah. Yeah. We're just going like, it's such a clever-

[: 00:16:09

[00:16:10] Samara: idea.

[: 00:16:11

Mm. Mm. So we paid them 18 grand. And all they did was, like, gift to some micro-influencers, and we paid them $18,000. Like, they did not get us one article- Mm ... one piece of PR, nothing. And then so after that we were like, "Fuck it." Like, let's just, you know- Yeah, do it ourselves ... make something happen ourselves.

Yeah. And then, yeah, literally doing it yourself costs nothing, just your time and, you know, the willingness to hustle and, like, find emails on LinkedIn. And then, yeah, landed those two stories ourselves. We're, like, not paying a cent for it.

[: 00:16:55

[00:16:56] ** Acacia:** Crazy. Mm. I, and I think, like, a lot of business owners are always like, "Oh, I'll go pay the person to do the thing."

Yeah. Or like, "Oh, I can't start until I have enough money because I have to pay other people." But it's like, no, just, like, get out of your own way and do it yourself. Like- Yeah ... you know? And the

[: 00:17:11

which was so nice. Mm.

[: 00:17:23

You know? Yeah. I think, like, we really led with that, and although we didn't know what to even do with that information at the start, the more, I guess, the business started to grow, we were like, "Wow, okay, I think this is a really powerful thing," because we are our customer. Like, we- Mm. Yes ... know exactly where they are.

Mm. And I think the more we learnt about marketing, we knew that that was the most powerful thing. Like, learning how to speak to your customer and kind of meet them where they're at. Um, and yeah, like being the person that you want to attract into your business is so- Mm ... powerful, but I think we can all get, like, so in our heads, and then you kind of strip it back and you're like, "Wait a second.

If I was in their position, which I was, what would I wanna hear?" Mm. Yeah. And going back to that was really useful. But yeah, I think there's just so many, like, faceless brands or, you know, people just starting brands wanting to make, you know- Money ... a gazillion dollars.

[: 00:18:28

Mm.

[: 00:18:33

[00:18:45] Jen: Yeah ...

[: 00:18:45

But then we went back to doing, you know, not even, like, two orders a day- Mm ... because we didn't have anything in the background that was, like, helping us attract customers. Continuous, yeah. Yeah.

[: 00:19:18

[00:19:19] ** Acacia:** We just had these random peaks of PR, which you can't get all the time. Like, PR, they want exciting stories, and that was an exciting, exciting story at that time, but you can't just keep, like, pitching the same thing.

Mm. So we really struggled with, like, momentum for probably the next, I don't know, 12 months, I would say. Um, and then that's when I started learning, like, Facebook ads ourselves. So we had paid agencies, which again, cost a bloody fortune, and they don't give a shit about you, so that really got us nowhere.

Um, and then I was like, "Let's just try and learn this ourselves." So we started learning, like, I started making ads ourselves, just, like, talking about our story. Um, and then I was running the ads as well, like, actual in the back end on Meta, figured all of that out. And then we got ourselves from maybe doing, like, 8,000 a month to about 30,000 a month in a, in one month.

[: 00:20:12

[00:20:12] ** Acacia:** just because we were like, "Okay, we, uh, we've realized we actually have to pay for customers." Yeah. Like, you know, people can't just discover you. Yeah. We have to put our money where our mouth is- Mm ... and get in front of people, 'cause that's what the bigger brands are doing anyway, so how are you ever gonna compete?

Yes. Um, and then- '

[: 00:20:28

Mm. Do I want it? No. No. But I own it. Like, it's like that, that- Yeah ... constant messaging- Yeah ... that constant thing. Tell them, tell them, tell them, tell them, tell them, tell them. It's the same with socks. All I get, all that my feed is at the moment is fucking socks, 'cause I would've looked once at some cute socks- Yeah

and then you just, it, it just feeds the same information. Yeah.

[: 00:21:02

[00:21:08] Samara: you don't become a brand that anyone knows of. Yeah.

[: 00:21:11

Yes. Yeah. Like, it really is a game of that. Um, and I think for a long time because we had invested so much into starting the business, we were scared to put more money in. Yes. Yeah. But then it's like, well, all the money that you've put in at the start is just a waste then if you can't actually get customers.

If you don't... Yeah, exactly right. Yeah. And I think the biggest thing I realized, I can't remember if, like, um, I heard this on a podcast or, like, a mentor, I can't remember, but it's like you can, it's all well and good having a great product or a great service, but if no one knows about it, it doesn't, it, it- Yeah

literally does not matter.

[: 00:21:52

[00:21:52] ** Acacia:** And I think that's kind of where we went wrong. Like, we put so much money into creating an amazing product, but then basically had no money left for marketing or no idea of how to market it. Mm. Yeah. So it was just like, you know, gaining dust on a shelf. Mm. Like, it's not really doing anything.

Um, and so yeah, that was the biggest unlock for us, I think, is like getting, actually getting in front of people through ads. So we went from 8,000 a month to 30,000 a month, and then we kind of hovered around there. And then the next breakthrough again was PR. So we got on Channel 7 News, like nighttime news.

[: 00:22:28

[00:22:29] ** Acacia:** and that just went bonkers. Like, I think for a product like ours, you know, you have to build so much trust and legitimacy.

[: 00:22:37

[00:22:37] ** Acacia:** And as much as, you know, the news can just, you know, talk shit, but like ultimately- Yeah ... people, they trust it. Like, they trust that outlet. Mm. And so I think for us, it was leveraging the trust that these outlets already had to create trust for our own brand.

Yeah. Mm. And so when we went live on Channel 7, it was like 6:00 PM, peak time news. How

[: 00:22:59

[00:23:00] ** Acacia:** A PR agent. So- Yeah ... it wasn't a PR agency, it was this one guy, he's amazing, he's in Sydney. Um, and we're like good friends with him now, and he, he's kind of like against all the agencies. He was like, "Look, if you've got a good story, I'll take you on.

If you don't-" Yeah ..."I'm gonna tell you." And so we jumped on a call and we kind of had to like pitch to him, and he was like, "Yeah, I think we could maybe do something here. I don't know, like, I'll, I'll play around." Like, he kinda like plays hard to get. Um, but he came back to us and he was like, "No, I actually think you have a really good story here, like, I think it could be really interesting.

I'm gonna go pitch it, and if I get something, you pay me." Mm. And we were like, "Okay." Mm. 'Cause like other PR agencies are like, "You pay-" Pay us ..."six grand a month, and if we don't do anything-" Yeah. Not our problem ..."that's, you know, too bad."

[: 00:23:43

[00:23:43] ** Acacia:** so he was like, "I'll try and get you something like A-tier," which is like, you know, prime time news, not just like an article write-up.

And, "If I land it, then you pay me." And then, yeah, Channel 7 were like, "Yep, we love the story, we wanna take it on. We wanna send a news crew to your house at 8:00 AM tomorrow." And Reba's like shitting himself because they wanted Reba to talk. Um, and he, yeah, he was like freaking out for the next like eight hours.

We were like practicing his lines of what he needed to say. 'Cause it wasn't live, but it was like they had to come and record you- Yeah ... and then they chop it up, and then they, you know, send it live that night. So it all happened really fast, which was like really crazy. Um, but when it went live, I think we made $160,000 in like an hour Wow

[: 00:24:29

As a brand that's put everything into it- It's like

[: 00:24:39

[00:24:40] Samara: hit right there Oh my God, it was wild, the adrenaline All I can hear about is the dopamine hit. Yeah Like, the dopamine hit would just be like... Next time that happens, I'm coming to your house and I'm just gonna sit there and watch it Yeah, and listen to your chimes Not even for myself, but just, like, I under- Yeah

like that, you know, you've put everything into it and we're so proud of it. Mm. And this is so huge for us. And I just think about in the beginning when it was just like, "We've launched it," and it was just like crickets.

[: 00:25:02

[00:25:03] Samara: And then- Yeah ... all of a sudden you go live and people gain this trust.

Like, imagine that, guys. I know. Like, I just-

[: 00:25:09

[00:25:09] Samara: cry for you. That's so cool.

[: 00:25:11

[00:25:15] Samara: it was- Oh, yeah, 'cause then you have to pack the fucking orders

[: 00:25:16

Like, that morning we knew it was going live at 6:00 PM, and we had been working with this website agency on a new website, and we were like, "It has to be done." And they were on the UK time zone.

[: 00:25:32

[00:25:33] ** Acacia:** And they were like, "Yep, it's done," like, "It's all good." And we were like, "Okay, great. Let's just test the website."

And so we added something to cart. This is at, like, 8:00 AM that morning. Added something to cart, and there was something on the website where it was keeping you- Is anyone else just...

[: 00:25:48

[00:25:50] ** Acacia:** It was keeping you in a continuous loop, so you add to cart and then it would refresh, and you'd add to cart and it would refresh, so you actually couldn't go to checkout.

And we were like, "What in the world is going on?" So we're messaging them, but they're on UK time zone. No one's awake. No one's re- replying to us. And so- Reva was like, "Screw it. We're gonna have to go back to our old website, switch over the themes." But we had to, like, update all of the copy. Like, there was so much that we had to do on the old website because it wasn't, like, a- actually a good website.

But we couldn't go ahead with the new website because no one could check out. Oh, stress. And so for that whole day, from, like, 8:00 AM till, like, probably 10 minutes before it went live on the TV, we're just getting the website ready, and then it was pretty much, like, bang on as soon as it went live that the website was all good.

We did not eat all day. I did not leave the bed all day. Reva and I are just, like, working on our laptops in bed. Hadn't eaten, still in our PJs, and then it goes live and we're getting all these cha-chings, and we're just like, "What is going on?" And you know when you

[: 00:26:51

I mean, "We're still in bed-

[: 00:26:53

[00:26:53] Samara: in our pajamas." We're literally just on our laptops. Like, this is business, like, right? Yeah. This is like-

[: 00:26:57

Made it, yeah. Mm. That then we could place our next stock order. Mm. That's all that paid for. Yeah. Mm. Like, you know, I think people really, like, glamorize these things, and it's kind of, no.

[: 00:27:20

We were actually talking about something similar about this yesterday. It's like, it's not just about taking the step forward, guys. You actually have to take a hit. Mm. It is about being able to take the hit- Yeah ... and get through the other side.

[: 00:27:40

[00:27:40] Samara: Jen, what do you hear that? Church. Our judge is so wise.

Yeah. Um, yeah, it's about, yeah, not just taking a step forward. It's like you actually could take a hit in this. Mm. Yeah. Like, it could be good, it could be bad. Yeah. You don't know yet. You gotta risk it all. And you gotta risk it-

[: 00:27:55

[00:27:56] Samara: for the biscuit, but that's insane. Absolutely. That's cool. Okay, keep going.

[: 00:27:59

[00:27:59] Samara: Do you know that I love that I know this story, but then I'm like, "Then what happened?" Yeah,

[: 00:28:02

That must have changed your life." Like, no. It's like, no. The bank account prior to that was, like, $10,000. Mm. Yeah. And we owed, like, $8,000 to a graphic designer who absolutely ripped us off. So what, we were gonna have two grand left. Mm. Yeah. And like, no. You know, we made 160 grand. That went back into the business.

Our next stock order was, like, $130,000. $30,000 left over for bills. We didn't pay ourselves at all. And to try put back into Facebook ads to keep going. Mm.

[: 00:28:44

[00:28:45] ** Acacia:** So, like, it was, but it was just this, you know, that little bit of fuel that you need and that moment where you're like, "Are we even really doing the right thing?"

Yeah. Yes. And then you have a moment- Yeah ... where you're like, "Okay, let's just keep going." And then again, it was kind of like the same pattern where we kinda fell back to, like, the $30,000 a month, and that wasn't all bad, but we couldn't really grow. Um, and then what we did, I don't know why we didn't think of this sooner, it was, like, six months later.

We had access to that Channel 7 segment, but we had never done anything with it.

[: 00:29:13

[00:29:14] ** Acacia:** And then our PR guy was like, "You know you own that?" Like, we thought Channel 7 owned it, like, we couldn't, you know, use it in- Use it as a- ... marketing- Yeah ... or anything like that. And he was like, "No, you own it." Like, you know, "You paid me.

I got that for you." Like, "That is your content." And so we put it in the ad account, and I just, I'd never done that before. The next month, so that month we had done $30,000. The next month we did 170. The next month. Wow. Just from, like, further leveraging that- Yeah ... piece of content. Again, 'cause I think it's just, like, a massive trust factor of, like, okay, if that's on Channel 7 News, it must be good.

[: 00:29:48

[00:29:48] ** Acacia:** and then yeah, from there we, like, that's when the business really, like, actually took off, I think, and we started to profit, like, month on month. Um, still didn't pay ourselves, probably, like, another 12 months.

[: 00:30:01

[00:30:01] ** Acacia:** but yeah. And then we kind of maintained around, like, the 180,000 a month mark.

And we've been able to kind of, like, double that now. Um, but yeah, it took us, like, three years to even get to that point. So three years before breaking through, three years before making a profit, three years before paying ourselves. Um, and so I think, you know, people who have been in business, like, two weeks and they're like, "I'm not making a sale," I'm like-

[: 00:30:29

[00:30:30] ** Acacia:** " Babes." Mm. "Hold on." You know? Like, you really do, like, and this is why it annoys me that business is so glamorized, and everyone's like, "Just start a business." Like-

[: 00:30:39

[00:30:40] ** Acacia:** You're gonna be so rich, and you can have so much freedom, and, like, work for yourself." Like, it's amazing. I've never worked more in my damn life.

[: 00:30:46

[00:30:51] ** Acacia:** week. Mm. Yeah. And, like, don't get me wrong, there is benefits, 100%, and, like, if that's what you want for your life, absolutely go for it. But I think, yeah, just, like, keeping it real- Yes ... and being like, it literally took us three years.

Mm. And so if you can't, I don't wanna say, like, suffer, but it's like, if you can't stick with it and go through really hard moments for three years, then don't- Yeah ... like, don't do it.

[: 00:31:15

[00:31:16] ** Acacia:** You know? Like, don't sign up for it. 'Cause it could be great in six months, but it also could take three years.

[: 00:31:20

As I said- Mm ... my sister's like, "Oh, I've seen that brand. I just didn't know-" Like if it was good or not. Yeah. And I was like, "It's good, my friend owns it."

[: 00:31:31

[00:31:31] Samara: Um, and yeah, that personal story behind it- Yeah ... is so important. Mm. Because then you're like, "Well, of course I wanna use this." Yeah. Like, it's not just about this supplement, big supplement brand, white label that someone will- Yeah.

[: 00:31:43

[00:31:44] Samara: chuck their name on. There's a story behind it. Oh, here, there you go. It's good. Yeah. Mm. It's like, no, we formulated this based on our own experiences.

[: 00:31:49

[00:31:50] Samara: Yeah. So, it's so incredible. It's so many learning factors even in that, right? Yeah. Mm. Like, so many things that you've said where you're like, haven't, didn't pay myself, you know, and I, I think about that, how often have we said in our businesses, like, "I wish I'd known this sooner."

Yeah. Yeah. But you don't. They're all the learning moments that you learn. Like, you're gonna- Yeah ... look back in a couple years' time and be like, "Oh, shit, I wish we'd done that then." Yeah. 'Cause then we would be- Yeah ... different to where we are now.

[: 00:32:15

You, absolutely there are great things that come out of ma- taking these steps. Mm. No one's saying that you shouldn't do it, but just don't do it if you think it's gonna be easy. Yeah. Yeah. Like, if you aren't willing to do hard stuff-

[: 00:32:33

[00:32:33] Jen: then this is not for you.

[: 00:32:35

[00:32:35] ** Acacia:** No. You

[: 00:32:35

[00:32:36] ** Acacia:** Yeah, 100%. I know.

[: 00:32:37

Yeah. Yeah. Learn those things. And I love it, 'cause I love how you're saying this. Like, so for perspective, you're saying this, you know, you're like, you know, now we're doubling that, so huge months. But I still ran into you and Reeve out at Burleigh Heads.

[: 00:33:09

[00:33:10] Samara: Handing out samples. And he was dressed as a- Watermelon

watermelon.

I know. Like, I'm just like- The things we make you do ... I'm like, I walked out and I was like, "Oh, look at my client. There's Reva in a watermelon outfit," and that's where you guys met Lee.

[: 00:33:25

[00:33:26] Samara: And we walked away and he was like, "I love them." Like, they're such a, like- Yes ... and I think the thing that's special for me, being behind the scenes, knowing you for as long as I have- Mm

is you are this beautiful, loving, connected, wonderful couple as well. Mm. Like, just a very beautiful story because you are two very, very good humans. Mm. But yeah, behind it all, you're still down at Burleigh Beach on a Saturday at 8:00 AM, like-

[: 00:33:48

[00:33:49] Samara: dressed up as a watermelon, sending out- Making it happen

making it happen. Yeah. Like, it's not just like a, "Oh yeah, now we've reached these months. Sweet, we'll just keep doing." You're like, "How, what's gonna be next?" Yeah. "What can I do differently? What, what could this look like?" And I also love that in all our conversations, we talk about business all the time, but, uh, you were like, "Oh, I'm gonna go home and talk to Reva about that.

I like what you said." Mm. Those things, like those learning things- Yeah ... of like, I don't have a multi-million dollar business that you're building. Mm. I've got a little salon. But those little pockets of being like, "Oh, I like that little-" Yeah ... "I like that little piece you gave me." Yeah. And yeah, it's so true.

I like how, get my head around it. You know, it's all of those for the fact that you're so teachable.

[: 00:34:29

[00:34:29] Samara: And you wanna learn all the time. Mm. And nothing that, it's not like, "Oh no, I'm above that-"

[: 00:34:34

[00:34:35] Samara: level of where I am in my business."

[: 00:34:37

[00:34:37] Samara: It's, that's what I think is really- Like ego. Oh.

[: 00:34:39

Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. Mm. Like, how can I learn to do that then?

[: 00:34:47

[00:34:48] Jen: I even liked, you know- I love, like, all the social media marketing that you do, but I love, like, the, the ones where you see behind- Mm ... like you with- Yeah ... just like the, you know, the here's the finished product, but also here she is in the kitchen throwing things onto- Yeah.

Like, it's just so, it's just so- Just the realness ... relatable.

[: 00:35:07

[00:35:07] Jen: You know?

[: 00:35:08

in the next four weeks. Mm. Like, and I, I just, I get so annoyed at that shit- Yeah ... because it's like absolutely, you know, any- anything is possible. It really is. Like, when I was a nurse, I always knew I wanted to do something else, but I never thought that this was, like, doable. Yeah. I mean, I dreamt big, but I had never had anyone, like, model that for me.

My parents are, like, working class people, you know, just worked a job, pretty much lived paycheck to paycheck, um, have finally been able to pay off their mortgage at, like, 60 years old. But, you know, like, that's their life, and that's all I ever knew. And so I, I thought big. Like, I always knew I wanted to do something else, but I never really knew how I was gonna get there.

And I think now- Yeah ... there's so much opportunity, and you can collapse so much time. Like, rather than it taking you, you know, three years or six years, like, you can get there so much faster. But these people online who are, like, selling the dream that you can replace your income in four weeks- Yeah For a lot of people it can really, um, like, w- what's the word?

It's just like it can give you this false reality. Yeah. Mm. Where it's like, "Okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go all in." And then in four weeks when it doesn't work, they're like, "Fuck, what am I doing wrong?" Yeah. Mm. And I think for so long I kind of felt that way too, because it's so easy to look online and think, like, the grass is always greener, you know?

Mm. Oh, those people are doing so well. How did, how did they scale to six figure months in, in two months of launching? Mm. Mm. And what you don't see is that even though there might be a brand that launches and within, like, one month they're doing, let's say $100,000, and that took you a year. But you probably haven't seen the work that they did prior.

Exactly. Mm. Like how did they build their community prior? Like we didn't do that. We did everything a bit backwards. We didn't have customers and community.

[: 00:37:17

[00:37:18] ** Acacia:** We launched to crickets- Mm ... and then had to build that up, right? Mm. But a lot of people now, you know, they're putting in the work prior. They might have spent two years on social media building up their following- Yeah

and then they've launched a product, and then you're seeing all these Shopify cha-chings. But that took them two years- Mm ... to be able to get that result. Yeah, so

[: 00:37:35

[00:37:37] ** Acacia:** No.

[: 00:37:37

[00:37:38] ** Acacia:** 12 months in. Exactly. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Mm. Like, yeah. And I think, like, people get stuck in this, like, cycle of comparison, and, like, comparison is the thief of joy, you know?

Yeah. Like you can be on the right track doing the right things, and then you open up your phone and you see someone else and their success, and you're like, "Oh, fuck." And it, like, poisons you in a way. Yeah. Mm. It's like, "Oh my God, maybe I'm not doing it right. Why am I not there yet?" And it's like it truly is just a game of sticking it out, and I think, like, resilience is the most important thing.

Yeah. Because if we gave up when it didn't work, we would've given up, like, you know- As we launched- Mm ... when no one bought. Mm. Like, we didn't make one- Yeah ... sale for two weeks. Mm. You know, and I think if you can't have that, like, tenacity and resilience to just, like, stick with it and figure things out, then don't sign up for the- Yeah

torture. You know? I

[: 00:38:27

[00:38:35] ** Acacia:** No, exactly.

[: 00:38:36

You gotta be warm. Don't ever start a business, don't ever do a side hustle, don't ever do a thing. How many people have we heard say to us over the years, "Why don't you start a hair product brand?" I'm like- Yeah ... 'cause for me, I couldn't think of anything fucking worse. Yeah. Like, for me, my passion wouldn't be there to start a haircare range.

I don't feel I love what I use, but I don't feel that strongly about product.

[: 00:39:01

[00:39:02] Samara: I do when I use something and I'm obsessed with it, but the, that's not there for me. And unless you have that there for you, it's so, the market's so hard in so many levels to get into. Yeah. Yeah. Unless you are actually doing something that makes a difference and you know that your product does.

Yeah. Mm. You know?

[: 00:39:19

because we're in such a fast-changing landscape. Mm. So you have to be able to perceive an idea that hasn't actually been achieved yet.

[: 00:39:44

[00:39:44] Jen: Mm. And figure out the path to get to that. Like, the path is so different now.

[: 00:39:49

[00:39:49] Jen: You're not just trudging behind someone who's done it that way before. The landscape has moved, it has changed.

Mm. You're creating things that- You wouldn't have dreamed of Mm. Do you know what I mean? And that's in all areas. Like, it is different. Mm. Things are moving fast. You need to have that adaptability and that resilience- Mm ... in any form of any career- Yeah ... business or otherwise, moving forward. Mm.

[: 00:40:14

Yeah. And I mean, you might have even had it, like, other salon owners or, like, people in the beauty industry asking you like, "How did you do it?" And you're like, "There's key things that I can teach you." Mm. Yeah. But, like, my formula, or, like, not even formula, but it's like what got me here may not necessarily get you there.

Mm. Yes. I can teach you things and give you the wisdom that I've learnt along the way and the tools that I, you know, can share with you, but, like, you've gotta do the work. Mm. Yeah. And you might, like, implement the things that I teach you, but then you might learn something from that and go, "Okay, that worked for me, but that didn't, and here's what I learned."

Mm. So now I have to use my own brain and go forward- Yes ... with those learnings. Mm. Like, I think people just want someone-

[: 00:41:08

[00:41:09] Jen: for

[: 00:41:09

[00:41:11] Jen: do all the work for me.

[: 00:41:12

We had someone come in and buy, and they were like, "Oh, no, I, I don't..." Uh, and we refunded them, because I think it was like, "I don't wanna do this work. I just want you to tell me how to get out of debt."

[: 00:41:28

[00:41:29] Samara: to do the work. I was like, well- Do the work, yeah. It's like- That's your answer ... you know, like, I don't wanna go to the gym.

Yeah. I just wanna lose 20 kilos. Yeah. Yeah. So, like, don't... I don't want, I don't wanna do what you're telling me to do. Yeah. I just want to... Tell me how to fix it now. Mm. It's not possible.

[: 00:41:42

[00:41:43] Samara: Building something, fixing something, changing something, the... it's the hard things with that. Yeah. You know? It's like taking the hit.

I don't want... You know, you wanna change your diet and get healthier. You wanna work out, whatever it is. You have to take the hit and actually be like- Yeah ... "I am exhausted for the first month of this," you know? Yeah. You've gotta actually take the hits that come- Mm ... with what you want from that.

[: 00:42:03

[00:42:06] Samara: Yes. Yeah.

[: 00:42:06

[00:42:20] Samara: Mm.

[: 00:42:21

[00:42:22] Jen: instant, instant, instant. Yeah. Yeah, exactly

[: 00:42:24

[00:42:36] Jen: Mm.

[: 00:42:37

Yeah. He's got knowledge that you don't have. You have knowledge he doesn't have. Mm. You've got this, like- I don't know, tenacity, the both of you- Yeah ... to build this business. But you're not, you're okay not being the instant gratification. Mm. Is it good? Yes. Do I think about the dopamine hits of that night?

Oh Yeah. I would live for that. If that happens again- Yeah ... you're calling me, I'll bring over wine. Yeah. I love the idea of that, but you're not there for The- Mm ... just like the instant gratification. Well, it's a long time ago, right? And even the same with you guys with you, with your relationship. You and, you guys were together a really long time before you got engaged.

[: 00:43:15

[00:43:15] Samara: Because you were like, "No, we're building this business." Yeah. "The money's going into the business." Yeah. And I, it was so cute the night you came in, and you were like, "Oh, we're just going away this weekend." And I was like, "Oh my God, you're getting engaged." And you were like, "I kind of thought that too. Do you think?"

And I was like,

"Yeah, I don't know why. I just really think it." You were like- Yeah ... "Same." And I was like, again, really invested. The whole salon was invested. Yeah, it was so cute. Everyone was like, "Oh my God, she's getting engaged." I was like, "Thank fuck that happened that night."

[: 00:43:40

She's like, "I fucking knew it." Yeah. "I've been waiting all night." Yeah. I'm like, "Oh my God."

[: 00:43:47

"Let's get engaged now-" Let's get engaged ... "and get all this money." Yeah. You know, it was like, no, w- we're building our lives- Yeah ... for a reason, to look like this. Yeah. We're not just trying to... And again, you are so like that. You are both so humble. Mm. The last time you were in, you were, you bought a house that day.

Mm-hmm. But you're not, as again, if you don't mind me saying, like- Mm ... you rent right now because you're building- Yeah ... in, like you're building- Yeah ... investment properties. Yeah. And so you have owned all these homes. Mm. But they're all these investment properties that you're building-

[: 00:44:26

[00:44:26] Samara: that you guys are learning and building and putting your wealth into.

I just think you are miles ahead of, m- fucking certainly miles ahead of where I am. Miles ahead at such a young age- Mm ... of thinking, what do we do with this? Absolutely. How do we do this? Instead of going like, and you're still living. You've had a- Yeah ... beautiful holidays. Yeah. That you've done, like, amazing stints in Europe, but you're still working while you're there.

Yeah. You're just working from a different

[: 00:44:49

[00:44:51] Samara: Yes ... take those holidays.

[: 00:44:52

Like, a lot of our friends- Yeah ... moved to the UK and kinda just used that as their base for, like, three years and just went traveling. And so, like, every weekend our friends are in Europe, and initially, Reeve and I kinda have FOMO. We were like, "Fuck," like, you know, "Should we-" Yeah ... "should we be doing that?"

Like, maybe we wanna be doing that. And then, you know, again, you open social media and you see people doing that, and you're like, oh, and you're, you know, stuck at home working, like, 14 hour days trying to get your business to be able to at least pay you a wage.

[: 00:45:37

[00:45:37] ** Acacia:** But I think one thing I always reminded myself of, and even though, you know, my parents hadn't ever ran a business, but they, I feel like, install- instilled really good morals and values into me of, like, you have to work really hard.

Like, you do, and that doesn't mean, like- Really, you know, sacrificing- Yeah ... not necessarily. It doesn't mean going through pain. Working hard just means, like, really applying yourself to something- Mm. Yes ... to get the result. Mm. Not trying it and then it doesn't work out, and then, you know, you give up. Mm. Like, it's like you really got to apply yourself to get the result that you want.

And so even though I had, you know, these periods of FOMO of seeing friends overseas, I'm like, you know what? I know that the life I want to live in, like, the next 10 years, I'm not talking like the next one year or two years. I don't wanna, like, make millions overnight. It's not about that. Yeah. It's like in 10 years' time, I wanna be able to, like, live comfortably- Mm.

Yeah ... with my family and, like, you know, not just have a happy life for, like, Riva and I and our family, but, like, my parents who sacrificed so much- Yes.

[: 00:46:42

[00:46:42] ** Acacia:** for, like, their life in order to, you know, build a good life for us kids

[: 00:46:46

all of this like, money on a wedding if we haven't put things in other pockets. And again- Mm ... people hear that. They're like, "Oh, well, she's making all of this money a month. Like, you could throw whatever wedding you wanted to." Mm. But you don't think like that. You think, "Okay, how could I, like, put this little pocket away, and then we'll spend it on this-" Yeah.

Yeah ... "so it's not, like..." And again, that's just a s- it's not like you're like, "Oh, sweet, now I'm gonna go..." Like, you, have you bought a second car yet? You, Riva still-

[: 00:47:17

[00:47:25] Samara: See? Oh, I just think- Yeah ... your story is so good. Like, you're like, they still share the same car. They drop each other off to- Yeah ... like-

[: 00:47:33

We're not millionaires. Yeah. We're fucking far from it. Yeah. But, like, my... You know, you've always gotta have that bigger goal, and I think, yes, a lot of people my age probably, and just a lotta people in the world right now, it, they're just addicted to that dopamine hit, and they wanna be a millionaire by, like, the end of the year.

Yes. Or they're like, "Okay, if I-" consistently post on social media and do what this person's telling me to do, or, you know, I bought this program and they're telling me to do this. Okay, in four weeks I should, like, be somewhere. Be a millionaire. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And it's like, no. Like, what's your, like you said before, you gotta do it for more than money.

Mm. Like, money is just a tool. Yeah. It's just, you know, the thing that can help you create the life that you want, but it's not everything. Mm. And if you're only doing it for that reason, like you're gonna be really fucking depressed at the end of the day. Exactly. Because that's not all there r- that, that's not all there is to it.

Mm. And I think money helps you create the life that you want, and yeah, I think that's one thing I'm, like, really proud of Reva and I for, is that we have this bigger, like, you know, 10, 15, 20 year vision of what we want our family's lives to look like and, you know, even, like, our parents' lives to look like.

It's not, you know-

[: 00:48:56

[00:49:02] Jen: Yeah.

[: 00:49:02

[00:49:05] ** Acacia:** Mm ...

[: 00:49:06

that are in it for the right reasons. Mm. Yeah. Have created something for the right reasons. Are in it for the right reasons. Are building for the right reasons. Not like you're like, "Okay, yeah, we both drive $500,000 cars, and we live in a, you know, $7 million mansion." Mm. "And I carry four Louis Vuittons."

You're like, "I'm just happy to, share a car." Yeah. "And to work every day with my person." And- Yeah. Yeah ... like, and we know what that bigger goal is, 'cause that's what we're building to instead of- Yeah ... that instant gratification now. Yeah. Yeah. It's really beautiful.

[: 00:49:44

[00:49:45] Samara: I think a lot of us can learn from that.

Mm. I think I have learnt so much from this. I feel like my head's gonna explode. Yeah.

[: 00:49:51

[00:49:51] Samara: I'm just so proud in, in who you are and what you've built. It's insane.

[: 00:49:55

[00:49:56] Samara: What's next for-

[: 00:49:58

Yeah. So, and even again, like, not to, you know, keep speaking about the same thing, but it's like I think a lot of people would get to a point in a business where they're like, "Oh, we've achieved it all." Mm. Yeah. And, you know, like, this is great. But, like, literally I feel like we've just scratched the surface because our business at the moment is just online.

Like, we just sell, you know, through our website. We don't do anything with influencers. We don't pay influencers. We don't do any of that. Like, it's just Reva and I. We have two staff members, that's it. And so now we're trying to grow the business in other areas. We're like, "Okay, we sell online. That's great.

Where else is our customer? Okay, they go to skin clinics because they have a trusted skin therapist that they see, and they're treating their skin externally, and so we need to be the internal option, so let's go there." And I think we've only been doing that for the past, like month or so, and we've already got, I don't know, like 60 skin clinics that are interested.

So that's something that we're trying to do, and also we're stocked in a few Terry Whites at the moment- Yeah ... trying to work towards, like, a national ranging deal. But even that, again, has taken, like, over two years- Mm ... which we only realized the other day. 'Cause it's like you kinda just, you know, you keep sticking at it, and then you look back and be like, "Fuck, we started this process two years ago."

lew down to Melbourne in July: 2024

[00:51:36] Jen: the ones that ghosted

[: 00:51:37

[00:51:40] Samara: Okay.

[: 00:51:40

[00:51:43] Samara: Okay. But- But again, that's another setback that you had.

[: 00:51:47

[00:51:48] Samara: You ordered all this stock.

[: 00:51:49

[00:51:51] Samara: A retailer pretty much said yes.

[: 00:51:53

[00:51:53] Samara: You ordered all this stock.

[: 00:51:55

Well, first of all, we didn't hear from them for like six months, but for like the three months prior to that we're already, like, planning, you know, um, marketing, like talking to their marketing team, talking about a nationwide rollout into, like, 500 stores, and it was all pretty much... Like, they told us to go ahead with the stock order, but they don't give you their purchase order until 30 days before they need it in their DC, their distribution center.

So you've pretty much gotta order that stock and then they give you the official order. So everyone's like, "Well, why didn't you just wait until you got the official order? Like, that's stupid." And I'm like, "Because then, like our lead times are like 12 to 16 weeks." Mm. "And we wouldn't have had-" Yeah ... the product in time.

And in business you gotta take risks. Mm. And so-

[: 00:52:47

[00:52:48] ** Acacia:** all the lights seemed to be green, so we followed the signs and placed the stock order. And then, yeah, they came back to us and said, "Our strategy has changed," which is like other words just for, you know, we're not doing it anymore. Um, and then yeah, so we had all this stock and all this money in stock that, like you guys would obviously know the importance of cash flow- Yeah

in a business. Like, that money is needed for other things and now- Yep ... it's in stock. And it would've been fine if we got the purchase order from them because then that was then, you know, cash back in the business. But, um, yeah, so we had to like move that stock in other ways, which we were able to do, but Again, like that almost killed us- Mm.

Yeah ... with, yeah, cash flow. So yeah, so many struggles along the way, but after that we were like, "All right, screw you. We're gonna go to your competitor." But yeah, it's taken two years to even try and, like, get anywhere with that because they're like, "Oh, we'll, you know, we'll get back to you," and, "Oh, we'll put you in a trial store and then see how that goes."

And it's gone pretty well. Um, but yeah, people just, you know, things just take time. Like you can't- Everything takes so much time. Yeah.

[: 00:53:54

[00:54:02] ** Acacia:** just a field day ...

[: 00:54:02

Oh, I need some sunscreen. I'll just add some of this, also add some of that." Like-

[: 00:54:09

[00:54:10] Samara: you think that that's not... Like, but you're waiting for your order, so you're just kinda like wandering through like-

[: 00:54:14

[00:54:14] Samara: What can I buy?"

[: 00:54:15

[00:54:19] Samara: seen ...

[: 00:54:19

You know, just like the Channel 7 piece did. Yeah. It's like if we're in Terry White stores, like I think we're only in maybe eight stores at the moment as trials, um, but we've already got so many people, like, commenting on our ads and messaging us being like, "Oh, are you in Terry White in this location?"

Like, people just prefer, well, a certain segment of people- Yes ... prefer buying in store.

[: 00:54:43

[00:54:43] ** Acacia:** You know, people, I think especially, like, the older generation as well, they think that like- They're

[: 00:54:47

[00:54:49] ** Acacia:** to-

[: 00:54:50

Yeah. Yeah. Right now.

[: 00:54:55

[00:54:55] Jen: I want to walk down the road- Yeah ... and go into a store and buy it right now. And I gotta

[: 00:54:59

Yeah, I think trying not to, like, divide our focus across too many things because- Yeah ... there's not enough of us. If I could clone myself, that'd be great.

[: 00:55:17

[00:55:19] ** Acacia:** of you. Yeah. Yeah, and I think people are even, like, surprised by that. They're like, "So how many staff members do you have now?"

I'm like, "Two."

[: 00:55:26

[00:55:27] ** Acacia:** And they're part-time, so Reva and I still pretty much do everything, which I wouldn't, like, you know, say that's a great thing, but gotta do what you gotta do. Mm.

[: 00:55:37

[00:55:37] ** Acacia:** You know?

[: 00:55:38

[00:55:38] Samara: do. And you make Haywire Sunshines. Yeah. You guys have got each other. You're together.

[: 00:55:43

[00:55:43] Samara: You don't have kids yet.

[: 00:55:44

[00:55:45] Samara: You know, so it's like you build now while you can. Yeah. Yeah. And you still live your lives. You still enjoy what you do. Yeah. You still have time for each other, but again, you're each other's best mate. That's where you wanna be, so- Yeah. Until the new babe, until the new babe comes- Yeah ... until your best friend has a baby-

[: 00:55:58

[00:55:59] Samara: you're just like, "I don't need any staff."

[: 00:56:00

[00:56:12] Jen: Mm.

[: 00:56:12

Mm. My God, I think I would've gone insane. Mm. Like, you have to find people along the way.

[: 00:56:19

[00:56:22] ** Acacia:** Oh, that is Riva, 100%.

[: 00:56:23

[00:56:28] ** Acacia:** Yeah ...

[: 00:56:28

[00:56:30] ** Acacia:** Absolutely. Yeah. That is us to a T. Riva's like, "Right, we're gonna launch in the US," and I'm like, "Okay, so what's the plan?" He's like, "We're gonna do this, this, and this. We're gonna send, like, 5,000 units over there. If it doesn't sell, we can just bring it back. That's okay." And I'm like, "All right, so, like, step one-"

we'll start here." And he's like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool. Okay. Yep. So, like, meet again next week, and, like, we'll, you know, we'll go from there." I'm like, "Okay, great." Like, he's just, like, such an ideas man, and he's just, yeah, wants to do all of these incredible things. And then I'm kind of the person that's like, "Okay, so we'll do this first, and then we'll maybe park that idea for, like, you know, Q3 this year, potentially, and...

Or maybe when we have more staff, we can do that." And he's like, "Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah. That sounds good."

[: 00:57:12

And he's like, "Okay." Yeah. "How are we going to do that?"

[: 00:57:27

[00:57:28] Jen: Let me start- Let me figure it out ... to pave the way." Yeah. He's like, "No, this is gonna be great." Yeah. "It's gonna be so good." But as you, you need that balance, because you need that one person that's just, like, so ballsy-

[: 00:57:39

[00:57:39] Jen: that's just like, "How could we not be successful at this?"

Yeah. And then that other person who can actually scaffold everything behind it.

[: 00:57:46

[00:57:46] Jen: that's Mar and Jen.

[: 00:57:49

Whereas like I always need my Jen to be like, "Maybe we should come back to cloud darn. Just come down a little bit, friend."

[: 00:58:08

[00:58:14] Samara: exactly why I did it. Yeah. You're like, "Do it." I just, we just probably need to take a few steps back first.

[: 00:58:20

[00:58:22] Jen: Yeah. Yeah. But yeah. Yeah. It's that whole you gotta have that partnership, and I think it's beautiful that you're building that partnership together.

[: 00:58:29

[00:58:30] Jen: Yeah.

[: 00:58:30

[00:58:35] Jen: No, exactly right. And that's not what it looks like.

And it's, I also think it's really nice that you don't have to do it by yourself.

[: 00:58:39

[00:58:40] Jen: Mm. You know, 'cause that would be, the fact that you guys are in it together to support each other through that-

[: 00:58:45

[00:58:46] Jen: that's really nice.

[: 00:58:46

[00:58:47] Jen: That's really important when times are hard.

[: 00:58:48

So like I think if you don't have a business partner, how can you like get out there? And y- I mean, you probably see that with like other people in the- Yeah ... beauty industry or hair industry. It's like connecting with other people at events or, you know, whether it's like what you guys do, like even just like talking to someone else can help you just bring you back down to earth and be like, "Okay, I'm not, you know, I'm not so much the problem," or like, "I'm not as fucked up as I thought I was."

Like- Yeah ... like everyone is actually kind of in the same boat. I think like community is so important and just like connection with other people-

[: 00:59:27

[00:59:28] ** Acacia:** so you don't feel like such a psycho.

[: 00:59:29

[00:59:32] Samara: Thank you, friend- You're welcome ... for taking your precious time where you need to be doing other things.

[: 00:59:37

[00:59:37] Samara: all right. And talking to us. We're so proud of you.

[: 00:59:39

[00:59:50] ** Acacia:** Yeah. Thank you so much.

[: 00:59:52

[00:59:54] ** Acacia:** You know

[: 00:59:54

yes. We'll have it all in the, um- Through you ... show notes. We'll have it linked in the bottom of the Instagram stuff. Um, but yeah, and we'll collaborate on everything so that you guys can see the brand. Just like go

[: 01:00:04

[01:00:07] Jen: cause we are.

[: 01:00:07

[01:00:12] Jen: Yeah.

[: 01:00:13

[01:00:13] Jen: Amen.

[: 01:00:14

[01:00:15] Jen: All right, we'll catch you soon, guys. Thank you so much for listening. Bye. Bye.

[: 01:00:19