Brighten up

Bella Vida Santa Barbara came from humble beginnings and has blossomed into an 18-time award-winning, international skincare brand. Founder, CEO and Organic Skincare Formulator, Erin Schmidt, reminisces about the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur, running and growing a brand during COVID shutdowns and how she is positioning the brand for major breakout success in 2024.

foreword by Brady D. Schmidt, Jr. by Erin Schmidt

After five years of running Bella Vida Santa Barbara luxury skincare, I can honestly say that the only reason I am still in business is because I decided from the start not to give up.

Bella Vida Santa Barbara began in the kitchen of my small, ocean peak apartment in East Beach of Santa Barbara, California. While I was in the middle of planning my company, my father died tragically and set my world into a tailspin. Instead of shutting down completely and postponing or giving up on my new business, I threw myself entirely into launching the company just four months later on my dad's birthday, April 4, 2019, in his honor. It was with his memory and my mom and dad's constant, unconditional love and faith that I was able to keep going no matter what came my way. I tell people this story usually once I have known them for a while so they know why I will "never give up, no matter what" because this has fueled my every step in deciding that I must succeed and will keep going until that dream is realized.

I launched BVSB almost one year exactly before COVID shutdowns began. Against all odds, my business started to expand into Asia, with retailers in Macau, Hong Kong and then Australia and New Zealand, as well as many spas, estheticians and small retailers across the USA, Canada and UK. My team expanded to 8 employees and things were looking great. Then, all the stimulus money started to dwindle and the reality of a recession started to take hold. I had to pull back and I decided to just patiently wait until the storms subsided in the economy instead of giving up. During this time, there were major setbacks, financial losses I could not recoup, bad packaging and skyrocketing costs to manufacture and package my products that were caused by major disruptions in my supply chain because of COVID shutdowns.

After all these setbacks, I decided to take another leap of faith and completely rebrand my look and packaging after 4 years in business. I went back to a very luxurious black and gold branding, inspired by Chanel's branding, that I had in 2019, but had gone for a more minimal clear glass look. During this process, I was very careful to communicate with my loyal fan base about the challenges we had faced and how much I appreciated their patience during COVID and excite them about the changes to come by building anticipation and giving them sneak peeks and VIP-only sales on the original packaging to increase sales and turnover of the old packaging. Thankfully the new branding has been a big hit and most of my customers are remaining loyal.

Staying focused on the brass ring and your goals can be incredibly daunting as self-doubt and financial hardships of running and growing your business creep in. So I thought it would be helpful if I gave a few of my keys to staying in business no matter what comes your way.

KEYS TO SUCCESS IN ANY BUSINESS:

1. Have a vision, patience, fierce determination and tenacity

2. Keep refining and perfecting your idea, market fit, strategy and website, social media, etc.

3. ALWAYS keep learning, growing and challenging yourself to be a better entrepreneur and make your business better, even if that means redesigning, rebranding and reimagining your product lines.

4. Surround yourself with those more successful or further along than yourself for you to learn from, but don't let it discourage you into giving up because you feel like you aren't at their level yet. Every business starts at ground zero, just like you. Find groups of entrepreneurs you can bounce ideas off of that will give you constructive feedback.

5. Don't let haters drag you down- including yourself!

6. See #1 again.

I truly believe that every business can and will survive if they have a great idea and are patient enough to weather the storms of self-doubt and setbacks.

Sometimes other entrepreneurs who are starting out will ask me how I got where I am. Patience, Persistence and Tenacity are the best keys to success. I had to learn to not be afraid to fail and pay my dues, but, instead, learn from them and accept when I needed to change and get better.

Being a small business means I can pivot very quickly and not have to account to shareholders or investors who might have a different idea. This has helped me to pivot rapidly when the market has changed and launch new products very quickly to keep up with trends in the skincare industry.

I have worked very hard and had a lot of great breaks along the way that have helped, but ultimately, it has been the personal touch in customer service that has given me an edge in the industry. I have real fans who tell me all the time that they love my company and my products. That was my ultimate goal and dream that people would fall in love with my company and want to be a loyal customer and fan because of that and it has paid off long-term.

In just the last year, Bella Vida Santa Barbara has been awarded 18 clean beauty awards.

Most recently awarded were the 2024 Beauty Shortlist Awards:

Winner, Riviera Luxury Eye Serum with orchid flower stem cells

Winner, Brighten Vitamin C Cream for hands, body and face

Editor's Choice Awards:

Sunlight Serum

Cocomero Watermelon Glow Serum

Playa Ocean Mineral Mask

Playa Ocean Mineral Restoring Cream

Rejuvenate and Firm Retinol Mask

Dolce Cherry Reviving Cleanser

DECIDING NOT TO QUIT:

My advice to anyone wanting to start an ecommerce business is to first of all, be passionate about what you are starting, educate yourself on the market and then start it! Many people wait years to start something and then might never get going at all. Decide to start and never give up until you have success. If that means redesigning, reenvisioning, pivoting and hiring someone to help you get clarity on branding and positioning, then do it. Every single business that is successful has had major setbacks that could have taken them out of the game.

I truly believe that if you simply wait, sit back and be patient even though you don't see things happening, you will win. For every person who quits before you, you are winning. And there are people out there who are looking up to you and wishing they were in your place.

These five years have shown me that you can't give up when you feel like it is not going anywhere. Pace yourself and don't over spend on ads and inventory, be patient and keep growing and changing. You will get there!

Cheers to you! Erin Schmidt, CEO, Bella Vida Santa