Some of the greatest ideas for a business come from solving a problem the founder has personally experienced.Sarah Kugelman is such a founder, whose personal experiences with anxiety, and the impact of stress on her skin, led her to build a successful business…Sarah Kugelman, Founder/CEO of skyn ICELAND (aVegan, Cruelty-free, natural skincare line)joins Socialfly founders Stephanie Cartin and Courtney Spritzer in the MouthMedia Network studios for a conversation about building her company and her journey to success, along with a surprise and a brainstorm.
In this episode:
Hosts
Stephanie Cartin is a serial entrepreneur, investor, podcast host, community builder, and a champion for women founders. She created the Entreprenista League, a community for women founders, to provide resources and support necessary at all business stages. She’s also the Co-founder of Socialfly, one of the first social media marketing agencies, as well as Entreprenista Media and Pearl Influential Capital which was recently acquired by Cherub. Stephanie has shared her journey managing her health challenges with Multiple Sclerosis, Infertility, and a complicated pregnancy and is an advocate for women going through similar challenges. Her story and businesses have been featured on the Today Show, Bloomberg and Forbes. Consider Stephanie your biggest business cheerleader.
Courtney Spritzer is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, author, and community builder with a passion for creating brands and platforms that empower women to lead, grow, and thrive.
In 2012, she co-founded Socialfly, a leading social-first digital and influencer marketing agency. Over the course of a decade, she helped scale the business into an award-winning agency working with Fortune 500 brands and emerging startups, building a powerhouse team and culture along the way. In 2024, Socialfly was acquired.
In 2018, Courtney launched the Entreprenista Podcast to spotlight the stories of inspiring women founders. That passion evolved into Entreprenista Media in 2021, a media platform and community supporting women entrepreneurs at every stage of growth. She now co-leads the continued expansion of The Entreprenista League, a membership-driven community and ecosystem for founders.
As an angel investor, Courtney supports female-led and mission-driven startups aligned with her vision for a more inclusive and equitable business landscape.
She is the co-author of Like, Love, Follow: The Entreprenista’s Guide to Using Social Media to Grow Your Business (2015), a strategic guide for leveraging social platforms to drive business success.
Her work and ventures have been featured in Bloomberg, Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, and The New York Times. She is committed to championing visionary founders and helping build the next generation of impactful, community-driven businesses.
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Highlights
- How Sarah’s personal dealings with anxiety led to her founding skyn ICELAND, and the connection between stress and skin health
- Sarah’s entrepreneurial spirit, and how she combined her working experience and her passion to forge a new career path for herself
- The vacation that led to the name of the line, and what makes it more than just a name
- The challenges of importing ingredients overseas, and finding a chemist who shared Sarah’s vision for the line
- How Sarah approaches bringing new products into the line, and know when some products have run their course
- The tentpole moments in skyn ICELAND’s history where Sarah knew she had made it
- How Sarah manages stress now, and how that has evolved over time
- Sarah shares some of the biggest scares she’s had while running skyn ICELAND, and the lessons she’s learned along the way
- What Sarah did to keep the business alive when one of their biggest retailers decided to phase the line off the shelves
- Some of Sarah’s most out=of-the-box marketing ideas from the pre-social media age and what she did to adapt to the current marketing climate
- What Sarah sees as the future of the beauty industry, and for skyn ICELAND What having more educated consumers means for the industry
- ‘Sarah shares what being an entreprenista means to her, and gives some advice for people who are starting their own businesses
- Plus, a one minute brainstorm on how Sarah can boost her engagement on Instagram