How Salish Matter Is Redefining Teen Skincare | Julia Straus, CEO of Sincerely Yours

When Julia Straus partnered with 15-year-old creator Salish Matter and her father Jordan Matter to launch Sincerely Yours, she had no idea their American Dream Mall debut would draw over 80,000 fans and literally shut down the entire shopping center. But here's what makes this story different from every other celebrity skincare launch flooding Sephora: Julia brought decades of consumer brand expertise from scaling Tula and Sweaty Betty, Salish is genuinely solving a problem she experiences daily as a teenager navigating confusing skincare advice, and they built a community of 60,000 teens who helped shape every decision before a single product hit shelves. This isn't a licensing deal or a quick cash grab—it's a mission-driven business solving a real gap in the market, backed by $7 million in funding, and proving that when you combine authentic creator-product-market-fit with world-class operational expertise, you can break through even the most saturated categories. In this episode, you'll discover: Why Julia walked away from running Sweaty Betty in the UK to return to the US and build a startup from scratch—and what she saw in the teen skincare space that convinced her there was a massive white space opportunity How an investor connection led to meeting Jordan and Salish Matter—and the exact moment Julia realized their 35 million YouTube subscribers represented an audience desperately seeking safe, age-appropriate skincare solutions Why Salish and Jordan had never launched their own brand despite being among the world's biggest creators—and what made skincare the right authentic fit after years of turning down other opportunities The revolutionary community-building approach: assembling a Teen Advisory Board that meets quarterly like a real corporate board, plus a 60,000-person text community for rapid product testing and feedback How they sold out of all inventory at Sephora within one hour of the American Dream Mall launch—and why Julia was more nervous about Teen Board meetings than the public company board meetings she'd run in the past Why organic celebrity support from people like Khloe Kardashian happened without a single paid partnership—and how years of relationship-building created a "celebrity friends with benefits" effect that money can't buy The $7 million fundraising experience and why investors loved the creator co-founder model—even when many had no idea Jordan and Salish had 35 million YouTube subscribers (because they weren't the target demographic) The critical balance between building a brand that can stand on its own versus leveraging Salish's massive platform—and why the brand is called Sincerely Yours, not "Salish Skincare" Jordan's creative philosophy that transformed Julia's approach to brand building: "If it's been done before, why bother? You have to break boundaries and think outside the box—that's what makes content and brands memorable" Her number one advice for founders partnering with creators: "The key word in 'creator co-founder' is CREATOR—respect their creative process, don't hand them a brief, and trust that they know their audience better than any focus group ever could" Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: Building a Teen Skincare Brand with Authenticity 00:01:10 Julia's Background: From D2C Pioneer to Beauty Executive 00:03:20 The Founding Story: When Three Visions Aligned 00:08:42 What Makes Sincerely Yours Different 00:10:43 Salish's Day-to-Day Involvement as a Teen Co-Founder 00:22:23 The Teen Advisory Board: 60,000 Voices Shaping the Brand 00:17:20 The American Dream Mall Launch: 80,000 Fans Shut Down the Event 00:20:24 Organic Celebrity Support and the Power of Trust 00:26:55 Fundraising: The Seven Million Dollar Seed Round 00:33:41 Advice for Building with Creator Co-Founders HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Julia Straus Julia Straus: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-straus-5a98a211/ Sincerely Yours: https://sincerelyyours.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sincerelyyours/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sincerelyyours Salish Matter & Jordan Matter YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JordanMatter HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.