142. Building a Beauty Brand: Sue Remes + Terrain Brazilian Botanicals

Bruna Valente was a corporate marketer working in industrial manufacturing when a health scare sent her on a personal wellness journey, which led her to the rainforests of her native Brazil. There, she discovered natural botanicals that inspired her to create her own skincare products—face oils and lotion bars. She quickly realized they were good enough to sell. Minnesota-made Terrain Brazilian Botanicals is a small, but growing beauty brand now sold in luxury spas, hotels, boutiques, and online. Valente faces many decisions ahead: Does she set her sights on Sephora? How does she grow the audience, and the team? Does she raise money for the brand, which has been bootstrapped thus far? When beauty founders are mulling such questions, the person who is often on their wish list to meet is Sue Remes, a beauty consultant who worked with many of the biggest brands around the globe in her 30-plus year career, including Kiehl’s and Kevin Murphy. (You can hear her career story on Episode 22 of By All Means.) Remes shares the questions she asks of every founder before engaging in mentorship, perspective on how an indie brand can compete in a crowded field of multinationals, and how to succeed at retirement. In Office Hours with College of Saint Benedict and Saint Johns University, accounting and finance professor Boz Bostrom offers advice for early stage founders on creating a business plan, and not letting passion cloud the math on potential for profitability.