As vegan and plant-based business owners and entrepreneurs, we're often adapting to a new reality. This new podcast series from Vegan Mainstream is an opportunity to help you when it's time to pivot. These interviews will come from inside and outside of our community, and I hope as your host, Stephanie Red Cross West, I can inspire you and give you the tools that you need to move forward. Hello, everyone, and welcome to our next interview.
I have Sally Molenga with us today, and we're going to be talking about Sally really being a true, not only pioneer out there and starting businesses, being an entrepreneur, being a woman-owned business, but also being vegan, meaning doing all of these things and doing it for years. I think for many of us, we're thinking about starting businesses. Many of us have planned to start businesses. Even when I started my business, it's been amazing to be able to see how many people have been doing this for years and not just doing this for years, but have gone through that process and that cycle of not only starting their business, but growing their business.
And I'm really excited today to talk about kind of what's next for Sally's businesses and where is she going next? How is she looking at things like funding? How to get access to capital and how important it is, as we all think about these businesses that are kind of pioneering the world and helping us get vegan products into really everyone's hands. What happens behind the scenes to make this work and what has to happen behind the scenes so that we can have businesses like EcoBella and really, I don't want to give it away, the other business that you're working on, really the idea is that how these businesses grow and how we make sure that they become kind of not just changes in our society, but they become institutions that help us be vegan and help the world change.
So Sally, thank you so much for joining me today. Please to be here. Well said, Stephanie. Thank you.
So before we dive into your new venture, before we start talking about a vegan beauty, one thing I want to do is maybe give people a little bit of background story. Let's talk about the business you started. Let's talk about how long you've had EcoBella. Let's talk about how did that process of you creating that business and then bring us up to current day and then we can talk about what your plans are for the future.
Well, way back when I was a volunteer at a major nonprofit called Friends of Animals, and I met a woman who was very courageous. She snuck a video camera into a laboratory at Gillette and with the information that she brought back and the photos, we created a campaign directed at consumers, a big postcard campaign, we call it with a photo of a bunny rabbit on it. And the copy said, Dear Gillette, I won't buy from you unless you stop animal testing. And we set up tables in malls and we got consumers to sign and we mailed the postcards in.
And at the time, it was really the beginnings of a mass movement to expose animal testing for the really the banal beauty care products. You know, how could it be worth it to test on an animal for deodorant or shave cream or even a lipstick? And so we learned that testing was not only cruel, was unscientific. It didn't improve any results or safety.
It was only done to provide an insurance backup for these big corporations. So I guess I was an entrepreneur at heart. And I realized that, well, what are consumers going to do if Gillette doesn't stop testing or any of these other big companies, right? So I said, well, I'm going to start a company that offers wonderfully made personal care products that are not tested on animals and don't contain any animal ingredients.
And I looked around and there was companies just starting to do it. But it was a lot of greenwashing at the time. And because of my interest in nutrition as well as organic farming and environmentalism and animals, I tied it all together in a company called EcoBella, which means be whole beautiful in Italian. And we say that because our customers are all beautiful people.
That's funny. And yes, these customers come to us because they don't want to cause harm to animals and they don't want to harm themselves. They don't want to put chemicals and toxins on their skin. And so I'm the ideal customer because I feel exactly that way.
I don't care how pretty a color or cosmetic is. I'm not going to put it on my lips if I'm concerned that it has lead in it because we know that we are actually ingesting cosmetics through our our mouth all the time. And our skin is our first line of protection and we should be very respectful of what we put on it. So as of today, we still don't use FDNC dyes in our products, whereas other vegan companies might choose to do that.
I'm still concerned about that if we ever do use them, we'll have to let people know that it's a trade-off, for example. So we use iron oxides and for some products, we do use synthetic carmine. So when those products are not vegan and we state that. But primarily, we follow a very strict policy of creating our products.
And that is who does it help? Who does it harm? And where does it get thrown away? So we're still tying in all those philosophies and how we create products.
And frankly, if every company did that, the planet would be a lot cleaner and safer and humans would be a lot healthier. They wouldn't be battling all the toxins that we battle now, as I think. Absolutely, because if you think about something like skincare, you think about makeup, you think about a lot of these items, you know, we're using them on a daily basis. We're using them for such a significant portion of our lives.
So it's so key and so important to know what we're putting on our faces, what we're getting that repetitive exposure to because we're putting toxins on your skin on a daily basis for years. There's going to be some impact to that. So I'm really glad that you you talked about that point and really kind of hopefully for maybe some of our listeners are creating an aha moment, because I think even for individuals that have gone vegan, have started the journey of being plant-based or individuals who are starting to kind of figure out how does this transition into their lifestyle, they maybe haven't thought about skincare. They haven't thought about, you know, makeup.
They haven't thought about these items because, you know, when we often have that vegan discussion, we start with food on our plate. And I think it's so important to kind of feature and highlight and talk about brands like yours because it helps people understand that there are other industries that are harming animals and there are other industries that can put us in a situation where we're putting toxins on our skin and our body. So it's really exciting to have you here today to kind of shed that light and help people understand that we can drive change through all types of products that we purchase. I absolutely concur.
So one thing I want to talk about because you said something and I want to touch on it. You mentioned not just the products that we use, but how we dispose of them. Do you have a campaign around how we dispose of makeup and skincare products? I'm just curious when you said that it, it, it, it put a light bulb on because I maybe just was personally, I'm trying to do a little bit more around, you know, my choices in the products I use, especially when I think about sustainability.
Well, we, we have always chosen the most sustainable and regenerative packaging that we could find that's available. We are completely reliant on vendors on the ingenuity of those vendors who make a lipstick case or make an eyeshadow case or a skincare bottle. So we've always packaged in glass and we've always packaged in paper wherever we could. So we were really innovators in that.
And we're still pushing our suppliers for that, for compostable materials. And we will be the first to grab those technologies as soon as they let us know that it's available. Perfect. And that is really good to hear because I think sometimes it's easy to say, you know, it's just looks like it's just this, but it's so important to realize what packaging your products come in.
You know, are they renewable? Are there things that can be recyclable? um, and then I'd love that you're looking into, um, items that can be, um, composted as well. So let me just make sure I have the timeline.
When about, when did you start, um, Echo Bella? Echo Bella is about 20 years old at this point. I love, love that. Sorry, go ahead.
Yes. And, uh, so, uh, now we, we have built on that good reputation that we have by launching a new brand called A Vegan Beauty, where we aim to separate the categories where Echo Bella is to become the, uh, cosmetics and fragrance part of our business. And A Vegan Beauty is to become the skincare and wellness part of our business, where we're doing something that I always wanted to do, which is help people become more beautiful from the inside. I can't put enough makeup on someone to make their skin look better if they have a diet based on dairy, animal proteins, meat, uh, and, uh, sugar.
So I am talking more and more about that mission. And we created a really fabulous supplement, which will help people understand the holistic aspects of keeping themselves healthy from the inside and how it radiates from the outside in their skin. And I want to point out that we came to the conclusion when we saw that it's a, it's all the rage that, uh, women and for some men are buying these collagen powder supplements. They're buying them in big plastic tubs from everywhere, uh, from the drugstore to their health food store with the false notion that this is going to make their skin beautiful and make their joints healthy.
And in reality, it's destroying the animal's lives. It's destroying I love that because what I'm hearing from you is not just that you're a researcher, not just that you're looking for solutions out there for challenges that either people have historically reached for with your product that doesn't deliver for us, so you're looking for that replacement, but you're also constantly leaning into the plant world, constantly looking at the plant world for solutions that bring, you know, health that bring opportunity and create products that we can use that don't harm animals and keep our environment safe. So it's so great to hear that. It's so great that, you know, you're using your own products, but let's talk about the business side of that because for many of us as entrepreneurs, sometimes we have a great idea.
Sometimes we have a great product, but the hardest part is bringing that to market. And sometimes the hardest part is being able to secure capital so you can bring it to market because not everyone understands what it takes to be able to create, store inventory, you know, all the things that kind of happen behind the magical entrepreneur curtain that it takes to really get maybe an amazing product like you had out to the market. Do you want to give everyone a little bit of a background on what you're doing, how you're raising capital and how you're making this happen? So in the past, it's been very difficult for startups and small companies and especially women-led companies to get the funding they need.
It's been near impossible from banks and venture capital and other types of capital gone 98% of the time to male-based businesses, not female-based. And so I, when I learned that statistic most recently, I said, oh, no wonder I'm having so much difficulty with this. And so I found a solution though. I teamed up with a gentleman who is an expert in finance.
His name is Mark Winstein of Vegan Launch. And he mentored me and taught me how to position my company to raise capital in the new methods. So the new method is crowdfunding and we can raise a million dollars from consumers and small investors for as little as $100 a person. They can invest in our company and have equity in our company, which I think is wonderful.
In the past, as far as investing in startup companies, it was really relegated to those who could invest $50,000, $100,000, a million dollars. And those people made all the money when companies like Oatly or Beyond Meat went public. Some of them make $20,000 times their investment on those companies. Oatly too, it's a 20 year old company and now it's valued at $10 billion.
But not when it started, it was valued at $4 million. But the average investor could never have a piece of it. Now it's different. And I feel that my goal now is to be able to explain this to everyone because everyone is needed.
Everyone can participate. And if we do well, then our investors do well. And of course, the more people who invest, the more opportunity we have to do well. And it takes some of the stress out of constantly looking for money, constantly meeting with venture capitalists who say no all the time.
So I feel really optimistic. I've always believed so much in my customers and in just networking and people that I think it's such a great opportunity. So my goal is to simply tell everyone and invite them to go to our WeFunder, where right now we are raising a million dollars to challenge this collagen market. So not only is it a great investment if you're vegan and you want to change the world and get animals out of the supply chain, which is what I want to do since our mission is to create a business model, well, which we have done.
It's a role model that respects every living being's right to happiness. And so why not invest in companies like that? The planet will benefit. People's finances will benefit and animals will be less in peace.
Absolutely. And I think it's so important that people feel empowered to not just purchase products, but be able to invest, to feel like they can really make those decisions on businesses that we want to grow, businesses that can help us with that kind of even collective mission of, you know, bringing and removing animals from the supply chain. So it's really exciting to hear that you have that opportunity. Now, if someone's listening or watching this, what's the best way for them to get started?
Do they go to your website? What web address? Do you want to just give them in case they're driving and listening to this? What's the best way for them to take a look at this opportunity?
They can go on AVeganBeauty and look at our invest now page and that will link them to our WeFunder page. So AVeganBeauty, they just have to go find that brand or EcoBella with two C's. Go to either of those websites and find us. And I'm happy to give out my email, [email protected] with two C's.
Please write to me. I love speaking to investors and I will be happy to share with you what it's all about. Perfect. I'm really hoping that we can get some people to, you know, take action and be a part of that process.
Now, as someone who's been an entrepreneur for years, you know, like you said, you've been doing this for 20 years, you're in this place now where you're doing expansion and growth. I always think it's good to hear maybe a little bit of advice as many of the people in our audience have started businesses, are starting businesses, planning to start businesses. I think it's good to hear kind of what some advice you might have for anyone who's starting now, who wants to start a vegan business and wants to take that step forward. Are there any lessons learned or anything that you would like to share to maybe inspire them on that journey or to sometimes what I always talk about is help them get off the sidelines and get out of just planning to start this business, but actually get to doing it.
Well, it always starts with a dream and one person that has a dream and then they find another person and they map out their dream and they see how to do it. It has to start there with the dream. That's how everything starts. I mean, I live in the town of Thomas Edison.
He had a dream of figuring out how to create a light bulb. He tried a thousand times until he got it right. So while he didn't do everything right in his life, he did pursue the dream and avenues will open up to you as long as you are strategizing, holding gratitude for your dream, holding gratitude for anyone who comes and helps you. And you've got to find a little bit of money.
Also, it's very difficult to do it bootstrapping. So you've got to figure out a way to get some money into the company. Companies live on cash and they live on quality. I know people market crappy products and they do sell lots of crappy products, especially in the beauty industry.
But if your integrity is important to you, you're going to sell a good quality product. And so definitely find one other person to encourage you with your idea and get going. I hope that helps. Oh, I'm sure that does because I really love the point that you made that not only do businesses run on quality, but they run on cash.
I think for a lot of vegan business owners, entrepreneurs, you know, we have the dream to save the world. We have the dream to help animals. We have the dream to change the climate crisis. But sometimes we lose or people lose sight of the fact that you still need cash.
You need profit rolling through your business. You need investors. You need a place so that money can come in for that growth opportunity. And I think it's so important that people hear that and heard that from you today because it really can make a difference between growth opportunity, reaching out, launching new products and obviously serving a wider base of customers.
Right. And, you know, I would recommend Mark Weinstein at Vegan Launch as a mentor. If he accepts you as a client, you will have fabulous mentoring. And, you know, he does want to help vegan businesses.
So you have to be sincere. You have to have a good idea and you have to be tenacious. So but definitely give go to Vegan Launch and sign up and see what they have to offer as far as training and assistance. Just wanted to let you know, Susan dropped by and she was saying about our interview.
This has been great information. She was saying excellent goal when you were talking about, you know, taking animals out of the supply chain. And then Susan felt inspired. So this is a way to check out your website.
She's also vegan and always looking for vegan cosmetics for her friends and clients. So hopefully maybe we made a good connection there for you with Susan. But Susan, thanks so much for dropping by and taking a look at the site. So, Sally, as we wrap up today's session, as we wrap up our time together, I wanted to maybe ask you about kind of what's next.
I know you're looking at taking on this new, you know, the collagen market. I know you're building out your new brand. But when you think of yourself as an entrepreneur, sometimes I like people to talk about not just the business kind of what's next, but what's also next for you as an entrepreneur? Like how do you continue to challenge yourself?
How do you continue to grow? Because I think sometimes we put everything in the business and sometimes we forget as entrepreneurs, we have to grow if our business is to grow. So if you have any thoughts or any perspective on the idea of growth or maybe what's next for you through your entrepreneurial development. Well, as far as an entrepreneur, I've certainly learned a lot.
And, you know, it can be a high pressure place to be, but so can any job. And what I always like to say to my staff, our goal is to make everybody happy who comes in contact with us and make yourselves Make sure before we wrap up, if anyone wants to get in touch with you, if anyone wants to reach out to your brand, do you want to give them the social media handles? I know you gave your email address out earlier, but any other contact information that we should make sure people have as they listen to this interview if they want to reach out or find a way they can support you? It's and how I can support them.
So it is always easy to reach me or my lovely staff. Just go to either echobella.com or a veganbeauty.com and go to the contact page and write to us, and we will be in touch with you within 24 hours. So you're very important to us and we love having people get in touch. Perfect.
Well, thank you, Sally, so much for joining me here live today. Thank you everyone else who joined us, whether you're joining us live, you're listening to this as a replay, or listening to this as our podcast. We really love the opportunity. And even in line with today, I'm very grateful that you take the time to hang out with us at least once a week and participate in really dive into these interviews.
And I'm just so grateful, not only for our guests today, but the opportunity to talk about being an entrepreneur, talk about what it takes and some of those journeys that we're all on and be able to share them together because I really believe that we're on this joint mission together to help change the world, even with all of us doing different types of businesses and playing our roles to remove animals from the supply chain to really see what we can do to impact our environment and ultimately bring more quality and better products to our community. So thank you everyone. Thank you once again, Sally, and we'll see everyone in our next interview. Bye.