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Turning tragedy into a successful indie natural beauty brand…
Francesco Clark, Founder and CEO of Clark’s Botanicals (natural skin care including anti-aging treatments, cleansers & scrubs, lip treatments, acne treatment, moisturizing creams, anti-aging serum) joins Abby Wallach and guest host Kelly Kovack in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
- A horrible accident leaves Francesco paralyzed
- The moment when he no longer felt alone or hopeless
- Why not believing a surgeon actually created a path for progress
- When his skin stopped reacting to temperature or behaving correctly, and he looked much older
- Falling into a deep depression
- The impact of the death of Christopher Reeve on Francesco
- Facing his biggest fear and interacting with strangers post-accident
- Experimental stem cell surgery in China helped him regain much function
- Looking at tonics was a distraction, in the kitchen working on skin remedies trying to feel good again
- Never had an intention of starting a business
- His father’s chemotherapy patients and giving it to them for free
- A special home-cooked snack
- How the indie beauty industry has changed since launching his company
- Owning up to who you are with messaging
- Looking at partners who can help you have sustained economic growth
- Why Francesco actually answers the phone himself and why he has a 98% retention rate
- Winning an award
- Succeeding despite no financial backing for the brand, his brother and him working out of the basement
- What it means to get someone to convert from their moisturizer to his
- Revenue has doubled year over year
- How a sense of family has extended to the people works with now
- The “tight bubble”
- The joy of bad karaoke
- Why going to the office makes Francesco feel better
- The secret ingredient to a successful indie business