Join us for an authentic and unfiltered journey of mompreneurship with Kim Van Haaster, Founder + CEO of Bloom Effects - an award-winning skincare company powered by upcycled tulips. In this episode, Kim shares the challenges and victories of growing a business and family simultaneously, offering insights into how to accept help, overcome expectations, and tackle the loneliness of working from home.
Join us for a candid conversation that every mompreneur needs to hear!
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Join us for an authentic and unfiltered journey of mompreneurship with Kim Van Haaster, Founder + CEO of Bloom Effects - an award-winning skincare company powered by upcycled tulips. In this episode, Kim shares the challenges and victories of growing a business and family simultaneously, offering insights into how to accept help, overcome expectations, and tackle the loneliness of working from home.
Join us for a candid conversation that every mompreneur needs to hear!
SQUAD LINKS:
GUEST LINKS:
Don't forget to leave a review! We love to read them -- THANK YOU!
If someone ever says can I help you, I ask them what they would like to help with. Because I feel like when they take the autonomy and say I can help you with X, Y and Z, then they're owning that task. No one's ever going to suggest something that they don't want to do, so they're more motivated to do it and it takes the thinking off of you.
Speaker 2:Hey, squad, I'm your host, danielle Donovan, and welcome back for another episode of the Squad podcast, a fitness and wellness focused podcast for all of our go-getters out there. And today we're diving into the topic of mompnored life the raw, the real and the messy middle of what it means to grow a business and a family at the same time. Mom Squad, this episode is definitely for you. We are joined with an absolute amazing person and boss mom herself, kim Vanhaster, who is the founder and CEO of BloomFX, a global award-winning skincare company powered by upcycled tulips, and I can say from experience these products are amazing. I absolutely love how they feel on my skin and I love that they're made from tulips Definitely, definitely something I highly recommend.
Speaker 2:In today's conversation, kim shares the realness of what it means to be a mom and the founder, and I love that. Kim is authentic in her answers, showing behind the scenes and frustrations of what it means and I mean really means to be a mompnored. And with these answers and through this conversation, mom Squad, no, you're not alone I'm balancing how to ask for help, overcoming the expectations both growing a business and taking on all the invisible tasks at home, and the loneliness we feel when you're working from home and you're around your kids 24 seven. It's truly a conversation that all mompnores need to hear. So, with that, let's get to today's episode and meet Kim, and I am so excited to be sitting here with Kim Vanhaster, the founder of BloomFX. Kim, how are you doing today?
Speaker 1:Hi Danielle, Thank you so much for having me so excited to be here.
Speaker 2:Likewise, I'm so excited to get this conversation finally going. We're going to be talking about all things mompnore life and growing a family and a business at the same time, and that could not be more fitting for scheduling this interview. You guys, I think we rescheduled like three times just because of mom life, and that happens. But when you're growing a business and you're growing a family and you're passionate about both, you just got to go with the flow and we'll dive into that today. But, kim, just kick it off.
Speaker 2:I saw on one of your posts and you know just as far as your background that you are a Vietnamese Australian who is living in New York City as a beauty executive. You meet a fourth generation tool up farmer on the dance floor in Ibiza and fall in love. You moved to the Netherlands, start a family and start a skincare company using expertise and your husband's tool ups all at the same time. So let's dive into that and unpack that. What was that experience like? How did you transition from Australia to New York City, to the Netherlands and decide to start a business?
Speaker 1:Wow, danielle, that summary it just I've got to take a moment because it's almost. It's almost too hard to believe, but it truly. You know, I'm like taking it all in and it truly did all happen. And I'm just a regular person, so it feels like almost like a hallmark movie in terms of everything that happened. But it is all authentic and really true and it's my life, so clearly from the accent. I'm Australian, born and raised in Melbourne, chinese, Vietnamese by descent, and then I moved to New York for my career. I always wanted to work in beauty or fashion and I always studied like marketing and was passionate about product development and worked my way up the corporate ladder. As you know, it's really hard to date in New York or any big city really, these days, with apps and all of that, I feel like it's really hard to just find Mr Right and get someone to commit. So for me, I focused on my career and my friends.
Speaker 1:And then it got to a point where I was open to love and I was, and I was ready to have a family. But I couldn't meet the right person. And yeah, on a trip in Europe with my girlfriends I meet this random guy, as you do, and I kissed around and got on the dance floor as you do. But I think what came from that was really special, because it's not like I knew that he was my soulmate in that moment. It's really I mean, let's be realistic here I didn't think I'd ever see him again, but I think over the course of four or five months of texting and getting to know each other, I would say that it was like a modern day pen pal relationship, because the nature of my husband's work is that he's working with his family. And so I moved to the Netherlands for love and it was a really hard decision to make. I was walking away from my career. I love the beauty industry, I loved what I did, but I also was at this point in time where the biological clock was ticking and I knew deep down that Hein would never leave, because in a TV's work he's a tool of farmer and 95% of the world's tulips come from the Netherlands. So I packed up my studio apartment in Manhattan and I moved to the Netherlands and I said goodbye to my career Well, what I thought was goodbye to my career and then got to the fields and loved the tulips so much Everyone does.
Speaker 1:And then I realized that there's so much more to this flower than meets the eye. And it was the moment where I was actually arranging the tulips in a vase and I was actually complaining to Hein about them flopping over and I wanted a hack. What do you do? Do you put a penny in the water? Do you put a shot of vodka in the water? Do you cut the stems on an angle? How do you get your tulips standing up straight?
Speaker 1:I think this is a universal challenge that everybody has. Everyone loves tulips and everyone has his challenge with tulips when arranging them in a vase. And he turned it on its head and said Kim, that's the beauty of a tulip, it's one of the only flowers that continues to grow after it's cut. And for me I heard regeneration. And then my beauty brain went off and I was like what does that mean? What does that mean to the skin? What could it do for the skin? Has anyone done this before? That was really the point of which I didn't know that it was called Bloom Effects, but that was the point in which Bloom Effects was really kicked off in terms of the concept.
Speaker 1:And then we had two kids and I started a business and the rest is history.
Speaker 2:I love, love that story and going back to discovering the idea for Bloom Effects. When you moved and you packed up and closed one door to open another, were you searching to find the next thing, searching to create a business, or was it something that just happened organically? You were more focused on being in the moment and then this idea for Bloom Effects came.
Speaker 1:I really thought that I was going to consult or somehow find a job that would allow me to work remote. This is pre-COVID, remember, so working remote was not a thing and I thought maybe I'll try. Maybe I'll try to get my corporate job, because I don't speak Dutch or Italian or French or Spanish, so I didn't speak any European language. I speak English and I knew that it was going to be difficult to try to get a corporate job. And I actually did.
Speaker 1:I interviewed for about six months while I was trying to find my feet in the Netherlands when I first moved here, and then I consulted for a little bit and it was during that consulting period that I was like I can do this for myself. Why am I kind of showing everyone the lay of the land? And sure, they're paying me great money to consult, but with consulting and all due respect to consultants, but it's kind of like all care and no responsibility. You can give advice but you don't have to live it right. You just give the advice and if they take it, they take it great. If they don't, you get paid regardless.
Speaker 1:So I actually didn't like that part of consulting and I wanted to be in amongst it. I wanted to be making action and driving change and delivering results and executing and fulfilling my dream and my passion. So once I kind of realized that consulting was not for me and I needed something else. And I wasn't going to corporate because, hey, I don't speak Dutch. Also, all the headquarters of beauty companies, most of them are in Paris or some are in Amsterdam now, like Cody's in Amsterdam, but that's just recent, and so I would have had to move to France and that's three hours by train each way, so that wasn't going to work. So I was in a position where I was like do I start my own company and what do I do?
Speaker 1:Like, I want to do beauty, I want a beauty product because that's my background and the other thing is I suffer from extreme eczema and I have all my life and I didn't really understand the importance of clean beauty.
Speaker 1:I thought that it was just kind of greenwashing, to be honest, because I came from the farmer background, but it was when I was pregnant for the first time that I realized there were a lot of things that I was using in my daily routine that are prohibited when you're pregnant, and so I'm not into fear mongering or saying that things are toxic that's not in my vocabulary as a brand founder, and also as blue effects. But I did recognize that there are things that you should avoid during pregnancy and I thought, well, I'm just going to avoid them Period. It doesn't matter if you're pregnant or not, I'm just going to avoid those things in my life. And that was mainly cortisones and steroids, which I used to use every day to treat my eczema and keep it at bay. And it's a journey with eczema it goes up and down, it flares up and it comes back down again.
Speaker 1:But I wanted to create a brand of products that actually had, I wouldn't say, medicinal benefits for me personally, but would help keep my condition at bay, so I could stay on top of my condition, and so that, alongside of not being employable and having this kind of aha moment with the tulips, I thought, well, maybe I can start a brand on this idea, but we have to really decide what's in a tulip and discover that. How do we go about that? I'm not a scientist, I'm not a chemist. I'm just a regular person who works in the corporate beauty industry.
Speaker 2:How do I?
Speaker 1:do this and it was high and that actually said, I'm sure, this government grants around circularity. The tulip industry is one of the biggest industries in the Netherlands and it's a very important. Agriculture itself is huge for the Netherlands. I don't know if you know this, but second to the United States, the Netherlands is responsible for the most amount of like food and fruit vegetables produce, second to the United States. And to give you an idea of how tiny this country is, it's a size of Maine. So number one ranking in the world, you know, in terms of farming, agriculture and producing food.
Speaker 1:The States makes sense to huge country in population and land mass and then second to that is this tiny little country, the Netherlands. So farmers are super important to the economy here. And lo and behold, there was two government grants actually that we were successful in getting based on the notion of circularity, meaning that we were going to use waste product or byproduct from the tulip industry from Heinz Farm and upcycle that to be used and repurposed again for bloom effects. So sustainability, reducing carbon footprint and upcycling and using waste or byproduct. So all of those reasons promotes a circular economy.
Speaker 2:Amazing. I absolutely love how everything comes together and talk about being in the right place at the right time, both for meeting your husband now and then now moving and being in the, the tool of industry, where you come up with this amazing idea for this incredible product. That's helping you and helping you, know so many others as you grow and develop this brand. And now you're growing a business and you're growing a family at the same time. Were you pregnant when you first started from effects, or got pregnant, or did you have your kids already? What did that look like and how did that come into a factor? You know the challenges or the opportunities that came from starting a family and starting a business at the same time.
Speaker 1:Well, if anyone can plan it. I don't recommend being pregnant and launching a skincare brand, but these things happen and it wasn't that we weren't trying, but I'd actually I'd had a lot of challenges that had three miscarriages before, so I didn't really know that Eva was going to be a successful pregnancy and that was really tough. So I was going through that and, to be honest, throwing myself into a startup really helped my mental health, because people don't talk about it enough. But miscarriages are very common. They're heartbreaking, they're physically draining and you can feel very isolated because you're not supposed to tell anyone in the first trimester and then this terrible thing happens and then you can't share it with your loved ones and you can't tell your coworkers or people around you why you're feeling the way you are. It's just kind of a secret.
Speaker 1:Or then you say I was pregnant and then I had a miscarriage. It's just too much to share because you've already had this secret and you're not supposed to tell. So it's really challenging. I mean, I've got two kids now and thank goodness they're healthy and happy. But I don't know if I would tell someone to share their great news in the first trimester or not. I'm still on the fence about it because I can see the pros and cons and for me personally, getting pregnant was really challenging or having a successful pregnancy was really challenging.
Speaker 1:So during that time fourth pregnancy I was like I don't know if it's going to work out or not. I'm just going to focus on what I'm doing. I'd already started formulating the bloom effects and then, as a pregnancy was getting safer and safer and I was getting into the clear zone, that's when it got really serious with bloom effects. Because we were already formulating, we'd already got investors on board, we'd already signed our first retailer. I went to Cosmoprof in Vegas. Don't recommend going to Vegas when you're pregnant either. That's not fun. But I did all those things and I was working up until gosh. I mean I was working up until I went into labor. I think I was actually in labor and didn't know it the first time, and I was still on a conference call.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's fine. It's fine. I'm just going to answer this, yeah.
Speaker 1:I was complaining because I'm like I think I've got heartburn or, you know, intergestion, my stomach kind of hurts and everyone's like Kim, you're 39 weeks, I think it might be labor. I'm like, no, no, I've got time. The first one's always late and I think, because I had the challenges before, I didn't really have a moment to really think when I was, you know, successful with my first pregnancy, because I was in denial from like the whole period and really threw myself into work. It was a good distraction and for my own mental health I think it was a good thing, because if I wasn't doing anything and if I wasn't busy, I would be so worried of losing another pregnancy, and that stress and having nothing else to think about but the pregnancy, I think would have really stressed me out. So, silver lining of starting my own businesses it really was a distraction, so that first nine months just went by so quickly. Before I knew it. Eva was here and I honestly can't even remember being pregnant.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it is crazy. And then you know everything happens for a reason and being able to have a business and have that distraction to focus and create more of that positive energy for your pregnancy, I think is so amazing. Thank you so much for just sharing your story and your journey, because so many women too are going through that and, like you mentioned, you know, not talking about it but feeling a certain way and so really just opening up that conversation one for the mom squad, thank you so much for doing that. And then going into mom for your life, which is another thing people don't really talk about like you have a business which is a baby and you know a kid in itself, and then you have two other small children. What does that look like? What does your day to day look like and how do you balance Balance isn't the right word because I don't think there is a balance but how do you, you know, navigate growing a business and having kids? What does that day to day schedule look like?
Speaker 1:Then, yeah, I'm so glad that you actually said there's no such thing as balance, because I was going to say can I get this?
Speaker 2:Wait a minute, take that back. There's no balance.
Speaker 1:Can I get those tips? Because I need to work at how to balance things. They're really easy to balance. I feel like the mantra that I have is not sweating the small stuff.
Speaker 1:I think before becoming a mom and then only having work to focus on yourself, work your friends and you know, your spouse Everyone's an adult in your life. You can have an adult conversation. There's most of the things in your life you can control and you can schedule balance. And I think that that is a very different lifestyle to when you have little human beings who don't follow schedules and don't listen to reason and you can't have a logical conversation. And then throw that in with a startup which is basically a baby of you know in the business world, right Like, it's like having another child because it doesn't have systems, it doesn't have processes, it's not going to grow at you know the expected growth percentages that a stable business would be. You've got ebbs and flows and everything that can go wrong. So I think in all three situations being first born, second born and the business I would say not sweating the small stuff is really how I manage getting through the day.
Speaker 2:And I think you can apply that across the board with everything, both for your business and for your family. You know, not sweating the small stuff. Which leads me to just the question of I feel like as moms, and especially mom, you try to do everything and then you just feel burnt out, you feel stressed, you feel frustrated and you feel like you're not succeeding in any area, you're flailing, and what does that look like for you? Or how do you navigate that? Again going back to not spreading the small stuff, but how do you? Do you have time blocking or things that you do to stay focused so that you're not spread so thin? Or is that a work in progress just across the board for everyone?
Speaker 1:I definitely haven't nailed it. I'm gonna be honest. I've been called a workaholic and I do work crazy hours because I have a team in Australia, I'm in Europe and then I have people in the States, and so you know that span of just time zones alone it means crack of dawn.
Speaker 1:I'm not because, you know, fleur has either woken up and she needs her first bottle or I've got a conference call with Australia and then that goes all the way. So it's 6am to midnight and I don't really sleep much. You know, I sleep four or five hours a day and if you ask any expert, like you know, in terms of physical health and mental health, we need those seven hours. But I'm currently trying to really get to a routine where I can get at least seven hours of sleep. My focus is really trying to get the bare necessities done, and those bare necessities and nose-none negotiables even crystallizing those is really important.
Speaker 1:It sounds silly, but I work from home, so making sure I get out of my sweats every day that's a non-negotiable now, because I did slip into yoga pants and sweats every day and even though I wasn't getting up ready to work in an office, there's something about self-pride and dignity and just the way I felt about myself looked good, feel better, and so I think dressing for the occasion and kind of dressing as if I was going to work made me feel a lot better about myself, and so I just haven't found balance. But what I have found, the lines that I will draw in terms of I will not do this because it is a non-negotiable and I think I have more non-negotiables now than when I did in my 20s or my 30s.
Speaker 2:And I think that's so helpful because, it's true, it's not like you can time-block and have a perfect schedule every single day, but if you can focus on the non-negotiables that are going to set you up for success by not doing certain things, I think that's great and that's really helpful and just creates that I think freedom that so many moms and mom-preneurs need of. Okay, my schedule is not going to be perfect, I'm going to time-block and it's not going to go according to plan, but if I can have a couple non-negotiables things like feeling confident, things like focusing on more sleep that are going to drive me and feel better throughout the day, and then you can not sweat the small stuff I think those are amazing tips to really focus on and really hone in on. Because so many people say you know you need to create a plan and you need to create X, Y and Z, and just when you're in it and you're growing a business who is like a baby and a child like you said, there's no systems, there's no structure I love that. I've never heard that analogy and it's so true and then you literally have two little kids. It's a free-for-all and you know, by spreading yourself too thin, it is going to create that frustration and that drain, but if you have the non-negotiables, that's going to help. Just, I think, alleviate as much as you can. And so, going back, circling back to what you said, though, about being a worker-holic which honestly I think you have to as a startup, as an entrepreneur, like you have to put in the hustle and you have to put in the work, because if you're not your biggest cheerleader, if you're not the one paving the way, who is going to do it? And then, on the flip side of that, you do have your family. You do have, you know, two kids to be there.
Speaker 2:For what does mom guilt look like for you? Or how do you overcome the feeling of mom guilt? Because I hate that term. I feel like it shouldn't be mom guilt, because you're focusing your passion and you're giving yourself less as a mom, like you're giving yourself to so many others, but there's that term mom guilt. Do you feel that? Or how do you overcome that feeling when you are working? Because that is a passion, and I think you need that to fuel you to be the best parent that you can be. I know, for at least me, like I need to work and I need to have that aspect of me to be able to show up in a more positive way.
Speaker 1:I definitely suffer from guilt, and I suffer from guilt not just mom guilt, but like spouse guilt, boss guilt, founder guilt, and I think it's just the pressure that women put on themselves.
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Speaker 1:And I think we're raised to always say sorry and to find excuses and to make everyone feel better. And I haven't got the answer to that. But what I have realized specifically about mom here is that we expect so much of ourselves and we're doing as much outside the home in terms of work and output and sometimes even salary, and then we're expected to do like more than double. In most cases, the household chores are running the household, which includes the childbearing and includes the raising of the kids as well. So how is that kind of equitable? And I think of it less about mom guilt, because that's never going to go away. I think that's in my DNA. But I'm trying to find a balance whereby, look, you know, I can't be expected to do all of these things in my work life and then just be kind of pressured into also being like a stay-at-home mom essentially as well, just because I'm physically home. And we have those conversations all the time, hi and I, and we haven't really found At a solution, but I think having the conversations are really important.
Speaker 1:I've heard quite a few podcasts and talks and Michelle Obama has given and she talks about. You know she was married to someone that was running the country. She was married to the president and nothing's gonna be 50 50 when you married to the president. You know some things in it be 70, 30, other things are gonna be 90, 10, and so you you find that balance and you know that the pendulum is gonna swing each way and I think that as long as we have the conversation with our spouse to make sure that you know there's all the categories of running the family right. It could be the garden, it could be the upkeep of the cars, it could be putting dinner on the table every night, the grocery shopping. There is a list of things and you can't be like 90% in every category, plus be working them the same amount of hours, plus be bringing in the same amount of salary. You're just gonna burn out.
Speaker 1:So I Just break it down logically like that and I'm like okay, so these are all the categories to run the house. Like I need you to step up and have at least you know, ownership of some of these things, so that I'm 10%. In that category, I'm 10%, you're 90%. But in another category I'm 90% and you're 10%. Um, obviously doesn't work out like that in pure mathematics, but you get the kind of logic behind it. I think that that's where you can find a little bit more balance. You know, being parents and then alleviating that feeling of mom guilt because we went to every single ultrasound, right. But dad's get like, yay, you went to the doctor's appointment and it's like, well, I had to be there, why wouldn't he be there? And dad's never real guilt, they just get pats on the back. So you know, in some senses I think we just hard on ourselves as women.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm, I cannot agree more with everything that you said, and even just bringing it up and bringing awareness to it, like, it's true, dad's, just they get the pat on the back for doing the basic things where moms, I think, are expected whether we put it on ourselves or society puts it on us to go above and beyond them when we do it. It's never good enough and I think just setting those expectations, like you said, are so important. And also going back to being a mom Prenuer, which I know you know, this this conversation is really about as a mom Prenuer, we are mostly working from home and building a business, but it also looks like you are stay at home. So then you do take on all the responsibilities of a stay-at-home mom. Plus, you're growing and running a business which doesn't, I think, because it is just starting. You don't have much quote to show for it, even though you I mean you have a whole brand and a business and a line. But as you're building it and as you're starting it, the vision is there.
Speaker 2:As a founder, you have that passion, you have that vision, but you've got to bring it to life and in doing so, I think people don't look at it as a full-time job or it's not corporate. You don't have the typical schedule, so you are home, you are staying at home, you're doing all of the other things as a stay-at-home mom, which I I forget the stat off hand, but it's, you know, mom's work like 14 or 16 hours a day and there's no, there's no breaks, there's no, you know, off time. You're, you're always, always on and having those expectations. And then the expectations of growing a business and being a founder and pouring your passion in your heart and your soul into something Takes time and energy.
Speaker 2:So you've got to set those expectations, to set yourself up for success, and I think that is just an amazing reminder that so many mom Prenuers need to have, because we are so hard on ourselves and we expect so much of ourselves and I think others expect a lot of from us because we Put those expectations on ourselves and we're hard on ourselves, like you said, and typically From mom Prenuers, you know, we are harshest critic because we we have big goals and we have big dreams and we want to achieve that and we're trying to do everything. It's not going to work out. So how do you, when you're setting those expectations, how do you ask for help. What are some things that you and your husband do, or just in business, or just your kind of lifestyle? What do you do to set yourself up to be able to ask for help? I know that's something I'm always working on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I'm working on that too. I'm also working on.
Speaker 1:Expressing that I'm not okay and that's like difficult, I think, especially in the English language. How are you is a greeting right, but if you think about it in literal terms, it means how are you like me? How are you really? And no one really says, oh, I had a bad day, I didn't get any sleep. Well, like, how are you good? Thanks, that's just how you're raised to answer, because it's almost like a pie Greeting and people don't want the real answer.
Speaker 1:So Again, I think in English, like speaking cultures that's ingrained in us and I'm taking more seriously like, rather than saying how are you, I ask people are you doing okay? Because it changes the word ever so slightly, you're saying the same thing, but because how are you is so Overused and just seen as a greeting Are you doing okay? Is really more of a Asking about your how you are doing in terms of your mental health, your physical health. I'm checking in and it's okay to say Not so great, I've been better and I have to take my advice as well. But the way that I have, I guess, being able to share if I'm not okay or ask for help, is actually asking people Are you okay?
Speaker 1:In doing check-ins, because it's, it's always reciprocated and it gives you the opportunities then have a two-way dialogue to be there and supportive to your friends and your family and your support Network and your support system, but then also for them to open up the dialogue and feel comfortable asking you, because Sometimes, as a founder, you can come across as, oh, she's so busy. I don't want to, like start a conversation with her about you know, life or whatever, because she's just got too much on her plate and that's something that I don't want to. You know a can that I don't want to open up, and I think that having a conversation and pausing and asking that person if they're okay, then that gives them invitation and opens them up to then ask you if you're okay, and the more people that ask you, the more you're able to then check in on yourself and look after yourself.
Speaker 2:Right, that is so, so good. There are so many just nuggets and wisdom through the conversation and the realness that you've been sharing and saying are you doing okay? And, like you said, just changing that narrative, because saying hi, how are you? It is, it's fluff, it just goes on to the next. And really being able to have that conversation with people, and especially other moms and other mom Pneurism and just people in general, again opens it up. Maybe you're not ready to ask for help but, like you said, it's reciprocal. So if you ask somebody if they're doing okay and then they ask back to you, it opens up that conversation. That reminds me, too, that there is some challenge I heard, which I want to share it because I think it can be helpful For the squad listening as well where if people ask you if you need help with anything, you've got to say yes, I know for me I'm like no, no, I got it, I got it, no problem, it's fine.
Speaker 2:And just being open to saying yes, wait a minute, let me take a second, I do need help. Can you help me with X? And being able to articulate what you need help on with I think goes back to that hey, how are you? When people say, hey, do you need help, you're like, no, I got it, it's fine. But take a moment to really think about it. We do need help, and being able to get help from others is going to alleviate Just something off our plate which gives us more energy and more space to Be more present and be more open. So I think that circles back to that and I love what you're saying. Again, just opening up the conversation, are you doing okay?
Speaker 1:Amazing. I just wanted to add to that in terms of Delegating or like asking for help or saying yep, I need help.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I'm so overwhelmed and I don't know if you've ever felt like this, when someone says can I help? And you say no Because you're so stressed by whatever you're doing explaining and then delegating. Or you know, giving them a task is even just so crippling that you instantly say no because you just can't think of what to give them or to delegate. I've been in that situation before and I'm learning to actually ask a question back and it's really. It's really uplifting and it's really freeing, because you can say what would you like to help me with? And then the person then goes oh well, I'm good at blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then you actually have a conversation and there's ownership in the help. Because I'm so many people's mom right, I'm like Blume FX's mom, I'm the kid's mom. Sometimes I'm my husband's mom too.
Speaker 1:I spend my whole day chasing after things, whether it's chasing after our customers because we need a purchase order, or whether it's chasing after a laboratory because we need production to start, whether it's chasing a freelance graphic designer for a piece of artwork I need to get printed. It might be chasing the PR agency, and then you're chasing around two toddlers and then you're chasing around your husband because he hasn't put the trash out. It's just exhausting to constantly be asking for help or constantly be asking people to do things. And if someone ever says, can I help you, I ask them what they would like to help with. Because I feel like when they take the autonomy and say I can help you with X, y and Z, then they're owning that task, then they feel like that task is theirs, they're passionate about it. No one's ever going to suggest something that they don't want to do, so they're more motivated to do it and it takes the thinking off of you, but you can check it off the list, so it's win-win for everyone.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, I love that because, too, like you said, it is a win-win for everyone because people truly do want to help and you get a sense of dopamine.
Speaker 2:You get a sense of fulfillment when you're helping somebody, even with volunteering, if you're giving and you're helping and fulfilling others, that gives back to you. By giving people that ownership is really helping them as well and helping you. So that is a huge, huge takeaway. We're putting it in the show notes. We're using that as a highlight, because we need to hear that, instead of just saying, no, I'm fine, yeah, you can't think about it, you've got a million things, but giving people that ownership is helpful across the board. Love that. So then, going back to just working all the time and doing all these different things, do you have time for self-care or what do you focus on to give yourself that peace of mind and that mindset or fulfillment, to be the founder, to be the mom, to show up as the best version of yourself for yourself and for your family and for your business? Do you have any practices or just moments that you take to reflect or things that work best for you as a busy mompreneur?
Speaker 1:I think it's self-care, but it's also the industry that I'm in Like. Obviously, skincare and beauty is very important to my job, but I thoroughly enjoy it as well. So it doesn't sound like much, but just doing my skincare routine every morning and every night and I make time for my bathroom time and I close the door and make sure that the babysitter's already here and the kids are off to daycare or out of the house or whatever. They've got breakfast on the table, whatever it is. Yeah, sure, I could probably juggle myself with the two kids and just skip the skincare, but it's important to have that help and I'm in a very privileged position where we can have help.
Speaker 1:I ask for help because I just need to feel like a human being. I need to feel myself, and that includes showering, washing my hair, brushing my hair, washing my face, putting moisturizers on and then walking out the bathroom feeling like me, not just mom, feeling like Kim, and doing the nighttime routine as well. So I don't watch TV now I've got my laptop in open because I'm working up until midnight and I'm watching Netflix, but I will always make time for my skincare and then, monthly, I will try to facial because I think that it's important for not just me to relax and obviously the pampering side of it but also to try other products as well and understand what's out there. So it's a little bit of market research, a little bit of work, but also a lot of packery. So once a month I try to put myself into a facial and I would say that that's the way that I balance my mental health and have my zen moments.
Speaker 2:And I love that you have the combo, because you know facial is now or so and then driving there and coming back and it takes time and that is really important. But also for the days you don't have that hour, one to two hours of self-care time, just giving yourself that morning routine, that evening routine to feel like yourself, I think is really important, just to hone in on. You don't have to have this big routine and all this time blocked out. You can do these little things here and there when you can, to just feel like yourself and give yourself that self-care, to whatever that looks like for you. So you know, as the squad listening, it could be in so many different areas, but just having those couple of minutes each day to give back to yourself is so important. So I love that you touched on both because it can go in a couple of different areas and it can vary. It doesn't have to be like a set routine every day. It can just be a little something to give you a pick me up. And, like you said too, you know just dressing and getting out of your sweats is also really important to help you build your confidence and show up in the way as a founder and a CEO and a mom and the head of so many different things running so many different things. So do something that can help you feel confident and help you feel like yourself and I think that's, you know, the number one tip.
Speaker 2:So I, I love that and love this conversation and how real and honest and I and truthful it is, because, as a mom, you know there aren't the right answers, there aren't the structure and you're kind of in this weird in between. You're not in the corporate and you don't have a business that is, you know, has all the structures and the teams and the things in place. You know you're building and you're growing, but you also are a stay at home. I'm kind of you know, in the way that we talked about, because you are home and you still have all these other responsibilities those aren't going away and then bringing them together Like you're doing so much and I think, being real and being raw about it, that there is no balance, that it doesn't look. You know perfect every day, that there are, you know different tips and tools that you can work on, but it's not this thing that people have in place.
Speaker 1:We need to know that Right there's not a perfect science.
Speaker 2:I think talking about that and bringing awareness to that just gives other mompreneurs that piece of mind of like I'm not alone. And so actually in doing that, do you have groups or other women that you connect with to just help you feel that you're not alone? Because I think it can be a lonely journey both as a stay at home mom and then both as a founder growing a business. Is there any support groups or things or women's groups that you connect with, or founder groups?
Speaker 1:Before I answer that question I just want to say in my personal situation it's like double or triple the isolation because I also moved. Yes, I moved for love, but I moved to a country where I don't speak the language and because of the nature of my work and going through COVID, I never integrated. So I don't speak the language, don't really have friends here, I don't leave my house because I'm always stuck to my computer and the biggest kind of outing that I have in a day is picking up the kids, dropping them off and going to the grocery store. The rest of the time I'm speaking to.
Speaker 1:English speakers because our business is predominantly in the US and I'm here with the tulips in the. Netherlands. So for me it's kind of like double and triple isolation. I'm away from my culture, my friends, my family.
Speaker 1:I'm on a different time zone, they speak a different language here and culturally are very different as well, and my friends and family are all over the world. So I definitely feel isolated and I don't think I've ever gotten out of the COVID bubble. I'm still in kind of a COVID bubble unless I'm traveling and I try to travel more. I think that social media can be, you know, damaging and toxic for some people, but for me I don't know if it's the algorithm and it's just like learnt, but it sends me a lot of like female founders that are in the same boat and I have split into a lot of their DMs and, through things like AAPI and gathering a lot of Asian female founders in the beauty industry together, I've been able to build a network of people that are kind of doing the same thing and in the trenches with me, and they might not be physically here with me they're in another country, on the other side of the world but they can empathize and they can share some nuggets of wisdom and I can text them anytime and I can DM them. I think the other thing that's important for my sanity is being really structured about. Always I send a picture to my mom and my dad of the kids every day on WhatsApp, like even if it's just a whatever, like eating yogurt, because I know that that makes them happy, but also it ignites a conversation as well. And we try to actually video chat every day with the kids because they want to be active grandparents. So for me, just staying in touch with friends and family, and if that can't be done physically, you know, through the phone, over video call, that's kind of like my contingency plan right now because I haven't integrated.
Speaker 1:But I think, yeah, the community that I've built through founders has been really strong and I'm really I'm not surprised, but I'm really proud of the beauty industry because of that. You know it's one of the only industries that is predominantly female led and you know you can see the camaraderie and you know, for the majority part, every founder is willing to help you. You can reach out and ask questions. We all share ideas. You know we have think tanks. There's like International Women's Day that we all, you know, kind of band together. There's API, black History Month, like there's so many opportunities in the calendar just to band together and support each other, and I think that that's quite unique about the beauty industry compared to, I don't know tech or another consumer good industry. Beauty has this sisterhood which I'm really proud of.
Speaker 2:Right. I think the sisterhood is everything. I heard somewhere, I think on another podcast, just as far as collaboration over competition and that's going to win every single time. And, like you said, just finding your network, building your squad and finding that community of people who can empathize with you is such a good reminder and something that we really all need to focus on, and I think sometimes it falls to the wayside. We don't realize we need it as much as we do.
Speaker 2:But loneliness is epidemic in itself and really finding that network and finding that squad physically or online, digitally of people that you can connect to is so important because we just need to feel seen, heard and valued, no matter who we are or where we are. So love everything that you shared and there's so many tips and nuggets in there. Rounding out the conversation, I've got two last questions. I have that one your best advice which we'll go into, and then I want to hear where and learn what you guys are up to with LumaFx and where people can find you. But last question really, of the interview what is the best piece of advice that you can give for other Montpeneurs listening who are in the squad, who are in the same boat and want to, just, you know, do the best that they can.
Speaker 1:I used to hate this saying well, hate a strong word. But I disagree with this saying because I thought that it meant laziness when I was younger.
Speaker 1:And it's close enough is good enough, and no close enough is not good enough when you're a perfectionist. I always had to have everything, everything perfect, but as an entrepreneur, I think it goes into the same sentiment of not sweating the small stuff, but it's a little bit more extreme. You have to be kind to yourself and you have to be realistic and you can't like Rome was not built in a day, right, nothing's going to be perfect. The way you raise your kid is not going to be perfect. We're all just doing the best we can, and so sometimes, yeah, you have to accept close enough is going to be good enough, because the anxiety that perfectionism causes is going to cripple you, unless you're like Bill Gates or someone like that, and you know when you talk to you know you listen to podcasts where he's been talking to people about how he's done a Microsoft. He slept in his lab and he had one hour sleep a day to get like windows off and running so, and he used to go out and like read people's license plates. If they weren't working as hard as him, he put them in the naughty list. So there are things that you have to sacrifice if you're going to be a perfectionist, and for regular humans like us, I think that close enough is good enough, because if you're getting the mountain of work done that you need as a mom and as an entrepreneur, you're already sailing. You're already successful, because most people can't even get through the day. So get through the day.
Speaker 1:The next day is a new day. If you make mistakes, just brush yourself off, learn from them. You've got to really continuously improve. So you've got to learn from your mistakes and you've got to continue and keep on going and brushing yourself off. But I think that close enough is good enough and getting our result is better than no result. I know so many people that talk to me about a business idea that they've been brainstorming and thinking about and like they've done a mood board, they've done a vision board. They're like thinking about it and thinking about it and they just don't do it. So that's the main part just go out and do it and you'll work it out on the go. Right, yeah, it won't be perfect, but nothing is perfect. So that would be my main advice.
Speaker 2:Close enough is good enough, mike Drap, I love that advice in a perfect, perfect reminder for all of our mompreneurs in the squad to remember just do your best and do the best that you can every day and that looks different every day and close enough is good enough. Kim, thank you so much. I absolutely love this conversation and we're here cheering you on every step of the way. I love everything you've done with BlumaFacts and even in the beginning you were talking about you're welcome. You're saying you know, we started business, I got investors, I got retailers, I did this, I did that. I feel like you rattle off so many things and don't take the time to really realize that's incredible and amazing. So we're here cheering you on let's. Can you share with the squad what exciting things you're up to with BlumaFacts or where people can find them or connect with you, or anything you want to share with the squad, because I love what you're doing and love the product and company that you've created.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much. I'm honored to be on the podcast and I'm so excited to be connected to the squad In terms of BlumaFacts and where you can try us out obviously, blumafactscom. Just follow us on social media. It's BlumaFacts and that's on TikTok, instagram, facebook. We're on threads too, but not very active, so mainly TikTok and Instagram. And then in retail, if you want to touch, feel and play and experience the brand, you can go to Credo and you can go to Blumercury. We're also on qvccom, saxcom, bloomingdalescom and, if you're in the UK, harrods and Sephora.
Speaker 2:Incredible Kim. Congrats on all of your success across the board and thank you so much for being a guest today on the squad podcast.
Speaker 1:Thanks, Danielle.
Speaker 2:And there you guys have it another powerful episode. If you are loving this episode, come hang out with me over on Insta where you are at at the squad underscore co. And if you are loving this episode, I'd love for you to hit subscribe and share it with a friend, because we all know, success happens when you surround yourself with people who lift you up. See you, guys, next time.