An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
“Be really selfish when building a company.” — When leading a company, you have to learn to set some clear boundaries around your life and time that, although they may seem selfish, will help push your goals forward in the long run. For instance, my sisters know not to call me during my 12pm-5pm work hours. Even though they are still going to call, you have to be selfish and strict about your boundaries because you are now stepping into something you have never done before, and you need to guarantee that you gave it your all.
As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ezinne Iroanya-Adeoye.
Ezinne Iroanya-Adeoye created SKNMUSE to serve as an intersection of beauty, culture and community for the modern Black woman. Raised by her mother to prioritize self-care as a right, a necessity and a source of joy, Ezinne uses the values instilled during youth and her experience in the luxury beauty space to fulfill the previously unmet skincare needs of Black women. SKNMUSE uses authentic clean beauty practices and nourishing ingredients to provide a sense of familiarity and comfort for the “firsts” and “onlies” of the room, giving the modern Black woman an indulgent self-care ritual to cater to her soul’s vessel.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
I was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, one of the largest hubs in Africa. I was raised by my mother and grandmother, who showed me ways to move through entrepreneurship. My mother submitted one job application in her life and worked that job up into her retirement. But while working that job, my mother held different side jobs to help create a better life for us. I remember my first experience with entrepreneurship. My mom sold curtains, bed sheets — she would sew them and sell them; then she sold water, then she did retail, and finally opened a beauty salon. I grew up watching my mom allow herself to explore different avenues of revenue streaming. My mom held a great job as a Director of Irrigation but still desired more for herself and her family. As the only authority figure in my life, she instilled in me that there was more out there for me. Watching my mom put herself through school and attend classes with her inspired my hustle. When it was my time in school, I maintained the same hustle, understanding that there was always money to be made, and I was there to fill that gap. My mom was also very encouraging of our creative and explorative nature. From choir to dance, my mom was supportive in everything we did. I appreciate that, and it really imprinted on how I feel I am to just take the risk and bet on myself because I believe that God has my back, and the worst thing that could happen is that I would have to move back to my mother’s house and It’s comfortable there, so why not dream my biggest dream.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My favorite quote is from myself that I started saying to myself in my early 20s that stuck with me and that quote is “Stand in your truth, and the world will make room for you.” Before, I believed that I was never comfortable standing in my own truth. There was a turning point in my life where I just told myself, “be yourself!” That was one of the best years of my life, and I realized that people were readily accepting the vulnerable side of me and were okay with it. It reminds me to remain me even when I am in spaces where I am like, “How did I get here?”.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Luis — I read this around the time when I was ready to stand in my truth and set boundaries for myself. This book really helped me find it out for myself and showed me that it’s almost imprinted on them like a physical scar when human beings get hurt. As a result, we developed survival mechanisms and actions to try to protect ourselves that can transport to others as fears. And it also taught me how to be a better empathetic leader.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?
You really just have to overcome fear. We all are flowing with creativity to a certain degree; we express it differently. We are all capable of developing solutions to problems, and everyone is innovative in their own way. Still, the fear of judgment from others, fear of missing out, and failure can often get in the way of our greatness and stunt our growth. The moment you start doing the things you are most afraid of or complete that task you’ve been putting off, you realize that it’s not that bad. The most significant part is telling yourself that “What I am about to do is scary, it is going to have me judged for putting my choice of art out there, and what I am about to do, I might fail at it and be okay with that. You have to make a personal decision that I am about to do something insane, look at the mountain, and still decide to climb.
A Lot of people are also waiting for perfection. You should look at your last year’s work and be disgusted because life is about growth, but you cannot achieve perfection waiting for it to just show up. Just do it. Perfection is also a tool of procrastination. It’s never perfect for you because you don’t have the resources currently to get to your future goal. But once you start, you will get to where you want to be.
Lastly, it is good to realize that you can’t always operate on 10; it is impossible. So what I like to tell myself is just be consistent. Give what you can each day towards your goal and if you are constantly feeding your goal, the train will keep moving.
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
Walk down the water aisle. As humans, we all have a central connection; that’s why trends happen. But when it comes to entrepreneurship, it is best to research what it is that YOU bring to the market and what solutions you solve.
We are not the first body butter company, but I stand firmly that SKNMUSE is the first skincare company to focus on luxury beauty by highlighting ingredients and products that are special to the Black and brown community. It’s safe to say we are the first company to target the modern black woman. And that is because we were able to provide a small solution for a large group of people. So I can represent a small conglomerate of people in an enormous sea of people.
For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
Research! Conduct full product and market research into the field you desire to head into to fully prepare you for what you are about to get yourself into and what is needed to succeed in that space. From research, you will also have to conduct customer discovery. Like Uber, for example, is Uber for the riders? Or, the drivers? Uber knows this because they have done customer research to understand what it is and who it is, making their company needle keep ticking. This will also help you understand who your exact customer is.
Once you figure that out, you can start flushing out your niche, what your branding is, and your brand DNA. Your brand DNA will establish your brand identity and solidify your space in your industry.
From the day you decide you want to start your business, open a business account and start running your business from that account. This simple task will save you a lot of money in accounting fees in the long run and help you track your business finances more manageable. Then begin to trademark! You can start trademarking 6 months before having a physical product.
Lastly, don’t quit your job! You will need your 9–5 to help fund your business until it can float itself. Especially as Black and brown founders, we don’t have access to capital as easily as our counterparts, making starting a small business hard.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- “Be really selfish when building a company.” — When leading a company, you have to learn to set some clear boundaries around your life and time that, although they may seem selfish, will help push your goals forward in the long run. For instance, my sisters know not to call me during my 12pm-5pm work hours. Even though they are still going to call, you have to be selfish and strict about your boundaries because you are now stepping into something you have never done before, and you need to guarantee that you gave it your all.
- “It can be very lonely at times” — While building your business and creating boundaries, it can sometimes become very lonely. The best way to navigate this is to find a community that understands what you are doing and your goals. They will understand and sympathize with the journey of entrepreneurship; good, bad, and ugly.
- “Finances… Talk about Finances” — I’ve learned that no one really likes to discuss finances, but you need to be financially secure and realistic about your finances. Get comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations with people, even admitting that something is out of your payment capabilities. Get comfortable having financial discussions with your team because god-forbid something happens, and they need to immediately know their next steps. And if you don’t understand money, educate yourself. I have done extensive research, signed up for courses, downloaded apps, etc, to expand my knowledge base. And when all else fails, also hire an accountant.
- “Grants” — People in the Black and brown community are not privy to the knowledge of grants available to them as entrepreneurs. But if we begin the conversations to help each other familiarize ourselves with grant processes, we can help each other succeed.
Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
As I mentioned before, the most important steps are extensive research into your market and your clients.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
It depends on your strengths and what you have access to. You are more than capable of turning your goals into fruition. But if you have a great idea and you know that you lack the expertise to get the idea where you need to get it, hire a consultant or invest in apps and books that will educate you.
If you can hire someone, YES! The time it takes you in trial and error will be cut in half and will save you from costly mistakes that you may find in the long run.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
Bootstrapping sucks! It is something that has been tied to the Black and brown community that has truthfully kept us stuck. Over time, we have used it as a tool to get our goals done. But I don’t think it should be like that. I believe that bootstrapping should be eradicated. Instead, I believe governments and states should instill some kind of capital specifically around entrepreneurship. Imagine if everyone was allowed to do what they were passionate about? We would all be happier to a certain degree.
I will say, even though bootstrapping sucks and is hard, it is necessary. Venture Capital comes with giving up a percentage of your company and a percentage of the owner in how you run the business. You would have to run ten times as fast as your competitors because VC money is money that you have to return within a specific timeframe. However, with VC money, the time you would take in building your own community and network in bootstrapping will be cut in half because you will now be plugged into their network.
You have to have an authentic conversation with yourself when deciding which route is best for you and your business. For example, ask yourself honest questions, like, “Do I want to run my business at 10 miles per hour, or do I want to take my time” “If I do take VC money, what is my exit plan?”, etc. Bootstrapping has allowed me to stretch myself as an entrepreneur and helped me create bigger dreams for my company and my team without having the pressure of having to produce for a VC company.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
SKNMUSE is a premium beauty brand championing inclusivity and sustainability in luxury. With a vision of becoming a luxury goods conglomerate, we offer an elevated self-care ritual for the modern Black woman through body care. We create experiences that provide a long-lasting, culturally authentic, high-end experience.
SKNMUSE has also sponsored over 30 therapy sessions for minority children.
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I want to continue to elevate the beauty experience for the modern Black woman through the authentic reflection of Black women in the luxury beauty space. Through SKNMUSE, I want to inspire brands to be intentional when representing Black women in industries that generally overlook us.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Issa Rae because I believe we share the same vision for enriching our community and raising a new standard of collaboration.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Making Something From Nothing: Ezinne Iroanya-Adeoye of SKNMUSE On How To Go From Idea To Launch was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
