BIRCHBOX (continued from page 38)
How do you think this rebranding will affect the shopping experience for consumers? We think it will help subscribers and other customers understand more about what Birchbox is and what purpose we could serve in their life. More importantly, there is still so much to come and there always will be. The updated look is really still in phase one; we have many more big ideas, many of which will start rolling out this year. You recently partnered with Color Club. What was behind that decision, and do you have any dream partnerships in the future? Color Club is a blast to work with. They have a great team, they are fun to brainstorm and ideate with, and then the spectrum of colors is completely expansive— anything we could possibly dream up! Dream partnerships are many. I would love to help update older, fantastic brands for this new customer and era. I am passionate and obsessed with the idea that we can help re-imagine those brands and stories because the products are still amazing!
The Wanderlust Collection features the shades: Reign in Spain, Mod in Manhattan, London Calling, and Pardon My French.
Statements like “Where have you been all my life?” and “I think I am ready to go steady,” made it clear that we were building a service/brand/company that was a way of life, not just a necessary part of it. The rebrand helps us show that aspect of our brand visually. Birchbox is a part of your life and world...your life and world are rich, and Birchbox can serve to enhance that. Birchbox is not simply about a monthly treat, it is truly the best way to discover beauty from trying it out, to learning about the products, to shopping. How long has the rebranding process taken? Did you learn anything from it that you’d want to advise to fellow entrepreneurs? Just a few months; we started thinking about it after launching our men’s business. Then during the holidays, we brought more non-beauty and grooming products onto our site (think accessories, food, home decor), and soon we recognized that it made sense to update the visual expression of our brand. We learned a lot through the process and find it very valuable to go through the branding exercise, even if we didn’t change the visual expression. For us a big learning experience was that we would embrace the evolution of the brand—not this one time but on an ongoing basis. How surprised are you from the rapid growth of Birchbox? What steps did you take to accommodate this growth? Very! Words can’t express how surprising it still feels on a daily basis to think of the scale we have today. The most important thing we did to make this possible is hire the best team. Everything stems from their talent, passion, ambition, and relentless drive. J U LY 2 0 1 3 /
How do you balance your professional and personal life? You make it seem effortless. It’s definitely not effortless! You have to try hard to make the people you love in your life feel that love, and make them understand how important they are to you. It is important to me to make them understand that their love and support makes me the person I am. I am lucky. I love the people I work with and I feel blessed spending time with them building Birchbox. I don’t have as much downtime, but my personal feeling is that the happiness I feel at work, spending time with people I care about, does mean I lead a balanced and happy life. Any last advice for aspiring entrepreneurs? Buckle up—nothing can prepare you for the experience of trying to start your own company. It will feel exciting, impossible, hopeful, scary, benevolent...all in the same day or week. Try hard to remember to enjoy the experience of building; you really never “get” to the finish line because as you approach milestones you push out the goal posts. BF
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