Chaymae Samir, founder of Made By Sunday

Chaymae Samir was an outsider to the beauty industry but looking in she could see something was missing. Going against the grain and aiming to change the narrative around clean and affordable beauty, Made by Sunday was launched in 2019 and since then, the only way has been up

WORDS: OLIVIA MORRIS

Talk us through your career. My career started earlier than what I had planned and was always embedded in that entrepreneurial spirit. I convinced a professor to take me as an intern for her consultancy business. The internship turned into an associate position and I ended up embarking on my first journey as a location independent professional, while studying, and way before remote work was as common as now.

I then moved to Asia, where I worked as the liaison between the Ministry of Finance and an organisation helping startups in the region. This allowed me to get involved with organising some really cool events such as Obama’s 4th Global Entrepreneurship Summit and be in the forefront of entrepreneurship and startups in South East Asia. I then moved to New York where I worked at a hedge fund in emerging markets. By far the experience where I learnt the most. I also had a brief stint at the United Nation in Geneva but decided it wasn’t the right path for me.

By the time I graduated from my second master’s, I had more experience than most region. I learned a lot about building and scaling businesses which then led me to Made By Sunday. What inspired you to enter into the beauty space? As an outsider of the industry, I was able to spot a white space. I saw an opportunity to bring clean, affordable health and beauty products to all, that didn’t stick to the rules of emphasised perfection or what I call ‘aspirational realness’ that you see from a lot of brands trying to bring that ‘authentic’ voice that still feels like the marketing department is behind it. After researching and studying the big retailers, I realised that the typical pharmacy product really hasn’t changed in decades. The skincare products that actually worked have a 700% markup. Talk us through the process of launching your own brand Made by Sunday. I was always completely focused on learning how to build companies, bring products to market, and iterate on consumer experiences. From a consumer perspective, I was always baffled by the overcomplicated and overpriced market. So we set out to have a problem solving approach, instead of here we go “Buy this product because this influencer is promoting it on Youtube or Insof my peers and it just didn’t make sense to tagram”, we’re very much like, “This is your look for a job. So I started freelancing on the problem and this is how we fix it”. side to get the startup capital to launch my The COVID-19 pandemic was a great chalfirst business then my second, which I both lenge for some brands. For you it had the exited. Between selling my first businesses opposite effect – you grew by 1200 per cent and starting my Made By Sunday, I noticed I read. Incredible! What factors contributed that much of the marketing attention was to the growth? Often when entrepreneurs towards Western millennials and millennials start a company, they realise there’s depth to as consumers and employees in the MENA their company they might not have known. region were kind of forgotten. This led me to It starts simple, but there’s more underneath do lots of research, to publish articles and be the surface of what customers want and it’s involved in policy making around this topic. abundantly clear. Made By Sunday was exThis also led me to work with some of the actly like that. We knew the potential was biggest brands on marketing to the MENA there from the beginning.

IMAGES: SUPPLIED

picked. So I’d encourage people to step back a little bit and find environments where they’re able to take real bets on themselves and be in a room with brilliant minds and struggle with the amount of work it takes to be in those rooms. And if they can put themselves in those situations, in industries that their parents might not even understand or give value to, then it’s a really phenomenal career move. After launching in London, you’re looking to make your mark in Dubai. What do you think differs in the beauty space in this region compared to the rest of the world? We started with skincare but our goal is to ensure that both men and women have access to effective, evidence-based treatment options for conditions and issues that impact their dayto-day lives. In terms of differences, the big-

At the end of the day, what really helped gest difference, which I see as a huge opporus was that we weren’t so big at that time tunity, is in terms of e-commerce behaviour. that reiterating and adapting was going to Before the pandemic, MENA’s e-commerce take so long that we’d miss out on the op- sector was one of the fastest-growing in the portunity. We only launched just before the world. The lockdowns and the coronavirus pandemic hit. We were a lean team focused gave it another life. Covid helped us acceleron stocking the initial product line in as ate the shift from cash on delivery to online many retailers or doors as possible. When payments, but this demands building trust the pandemic hit, we switched the focus to for smaller retailers like us. Direct to Consumer. Despite whatever you Made by Sunday really is leading the way in the or outside conditions might be doing to hin- content game when it comes to telling a brand der your success, consumers are still trying story. How important do you think this is in toto get the product, that’s when you know day’s business climate? Stories are powerful you’ve got something highly scalable. and they’re still underrated in business. We What made you want to become an entrepre- rarely use a direct narrative around our comneur? What I always loved doing through- pany and we prefer to tell stories of our cusout my life and career was putting on shoes tomers, employees or even me, the founder. much bigger than me and seeing if I could We dub ourselves ‘the no BS brand that actufill them. For me, putting myself in really ally works’. And so is our content. Everyone tough situations is kind of the key to mak- knows how hard it is not to fall into clichéing an impact and feeling energy in my day writing or being misunderstood when telling to day. To this day, I always have that desire your story through video or words. We keep it to be put in really hard situations and build real and sometimes it really is hard to do as a things from scratch, which I get to do in dif- business. A good first step is to ask yourself: ferent areas in my company. why does my company exist and what are its What is a philosophy that you live by both in values? Your customers are not only buying your personal and professional life? Take your products and services, but they are also care of your people! Translating it to work, buying your story, your vision, and ultimately I believe companies are an incredible ve- your dreams. If you’re not telling your story, hicle to achieving so much more than just then you’re leaving money on the table. responding to a need a customer has. They How have things evolved for the brand since it can be an incredible driver for change for launched? Since we were bootstrapped from the people joining and the lives they touch. the beginning, we really had to be strategic Yes, I’m proud of how customers react to and patient with how we did things. The goal our products and how it impacts their lives, was and is always bigger than what we’re doespecially when it comes to acne, but I’m ing right now but we have to bring the buildprobably more proud of how we impact the ing blocks to eventually get us there. We inilives of our employees. tially started the company with one product. What are some of the key lessons you would After the pandemic hit, we expanded the full like people to take from your career? I was skincare range and really took that problem surrounded by people who I knew were the solving approach. Now, we’re moving on to a best at what they were doing, people who new phase in the company’s life where we’re I’d been researching and specifically hand- expanding our treatments to health and wellness. We’ve also been activating conversations, we’ve been putting ourselves front and centre, and talking to people authentically. What do you think will contribute to Made By Sunday’s future success in the beauty space? I think this is a lot simpler than people might think: just keep focusing on the customer. We’re continuing to understand the issues our customers are struggling with, and what is preventing them from getting the right treatment for it. Then, figure out how to make it as simple as possible. Ex. We already do free online video consultations with our skin specialists. People feel ashamed about certain conditions and don’t want to talk about it or admit that they’re struggling. They don’t even know who to talk to, but even if they did, they don’t want to go in person and discuss it. We’ll continue to focus on the customer and continue to make it easier, more affordable, and more fun to take care of their health and wellness. Building a business from the ground-up is not easy. What would you say the challenges are that you’ve had to overcome? To be honest, when people come to me for advice on whether they should join a startup or launch their own business, I always remind them that they should really double check with themselves if it’s something they want to do because they’re really bought into building something or bought into the idea that entrepreneurship is the only way to success. It’s hard, and those hardships will always be there, no matter what they look like for each one of us. It’s actually what filters out the best from those who are just good enough. And it’s necessary to build something meaningful. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s also the milestones. What stands out to you? I really don’t look back at my journey so far and think of milestones. I did a lot of things in a short amount of time which forced me to grow. Taking those kinds of bets based on my instincts and what I learnt from people have been really valuable to me and they’ve been the cornerstones of my career. This is The Entrepreneur Issue – what does being an entrepreneur mean to you? Being an entrepreneur to me means building businesses that serve the needs of our customers and act as a vehicle for the personal and professional growth of myself and our team, while being the creative outlet that all great businesses are. I’m building a business that is so fun, profitable, sustainable and fulfilling, so that I don’t care about anything else.