Ep 1: How to Raise Capital for Startups: Fundraising & Investor Strategies with Ericka Nicole.

In this episode of The Unseen Vision Podcast, I sit down with skincare entrepreneur Ericka Nicole to discuss how to raise capital for a startup, the challenges of bootstrapping a beauty brand, and the secrets to securing investors and scaling a business.

Ericka shares her journey from forensic science to founding Silken, breaking down key fundraising strategies, including angel investing and venture capital, and pitching investors with confidence.

Whether you're an aspiring founder or looking to fund your next big idea, this episode is packed with actionable insights on startup funding, networking, and building a successful business.

Chapters

00:00 From Forensics to Skincare: A Journey of Transformation
05:09 The Importance of Transferable Skills in Career Transitions
09:42 Bootstrapping a Skincare Brand: The Financial Journey
14:20 Navigating the Fundraising Landscape
19:01 Building a Unique Skincare Brand: The Science Behind Silken
31:51 Navigating the Microbiome and Pollution Protection
35:51 Building a Team and Equity Considerations
38:39 Product Development and Market Positioning
43:54 Rejecting Hustle Culture for Sustainable Growth
50:11 Balancing Personal Life and Business
54:55 Time Management for Entrepreneurs

Connect with Ericka

@theerickanicole

@bossbabereset

@Silkennco

Connect with Dr. Natasha Henry

@drnatashahenry 

@drnatashahenry

Transcript

Dr. Natasha Henry (00:27)
Erica, thank you so much for joining me on the Unseen Vision podcast. I am so excited to have you here and to learn about your journey and just to talk a little bit more. So the first time we had a conversation, I remember telling you that I feel like you have lived many lives. First it was forensic science, then private equity, I think it was, and now you are on your journey of building Silken, which is your skincare brand.

Ericka Nicole (00:48)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Natasha Henry (00:52)
I want you to take us through the timeline of what that looked like for you. Each step of the journey, and what sparked your transition from forensic science all the way to skincare, which is what you're doing today.

Ericka Nicole (01:06)
Yeah, so I would say what sparked the desire for the transitions was always just wanting more. So it was not a straight and narrow world. There were a lot of

twists, turns, hills, valleys, everything in between. So like you said, my background is in forensics. That's what I went to school for. I fell in love with the idea of being a forensic coroner for the FBI. I grew up watching Law and Order all the time with my grandmother and Dr. Melinda Warner. She was a coroner in Law and Order. That was my girl. And I was like, she is her, she is me. That's what I want to do. And that's exactly what I pursued. So I graduated with a double bachelor's in forensics and pre-medicine. And then post-grad, I was doing toxicology, crime scene.

all the frenzied key things and then I was like I don't want to do this anymore

Dr. Natasha Henry (01:48)
Mm.

Ericka Nicole (01:49)
And that was for multiple reasons. was in doing it for about two years. I was going through a lot of personal things. I was navigating grief. I was feeling unfulfilled in my career. And I was like, just I just don't want to do this. I don't want to be in a space where I'm unhappy in my career. So I was like, you know what? Great. It was a very impulsive decision. Do not recommend for everyone. I be fiscally responsible. But yeah, I just up and quit that day. And I think I gave a proper two weeks notice and I was just kind of living off my savings. And that was back in 2019.

spent

the rest of 2019, the last six months of the year just traveling. I was going all across the US, the Caribbean, just re-exploring my passions, right? Because I had spent 20-something years thinking, is exactly what I want to do. And then you finally get to it and you're like, this is not it. This is not what I thought it was going to be. She's a lot smellier than I thought she was. She's more isolating than I thought she was. And this is just not it. So during that sabbatical time, that was a very pivotal moment for me. That's when I learned about

entrepreneurship, that's when I understood skincare became a very, very big part of my self-care journey. Again, I was navigating a lot of things personally, and I say that skincare really wheeled me back to myself because it was the self-care ritual that really made me feel like me again, where I was like, you look good, girl. It built up my confidence, all the things. So was during those travels that I felt like there's a long-winded answer, but you know. Okay. Okay.

Dr. Natasha Henry (03:09)
it's fine. That's the purpose of this podcast. I want the best to be so detailed

because I want to learn. So continue, feel free, go ahead.

Ericka Nicole (03:17)
Okay, perfect. So it was during those travels, my travels, when I understood, I learned about environmental stressors and skin health because I would be in the Caribbean, my skin would be glowing, she's happy, we're great. And then I would go to the dry air of Arizona and it's like, we don't like this. And then I would come back to New York and then my breakouts would happen again. And I was like, oh, there has to be something here. So I kind of tap back into that degree that I spent so much money to get. And I started doing all of this research on environmental stressors and skin health and really understanding the skin microbiome.

microbiome was something I was studying in undergrad as well. So was really like a full circle moment. So now I had this idea that I wanted a skincare brand that protected skin from environmental stressors. But your girl, remember your girl was living off her savings. She didn't have any jobs. So she needed to go back to work because starting a business takes money. So when I knew I now knew I wanted to start a business, I wanted to be an entrepreneur. And I was like, what's the best way to learn how to build a business? And I decided that the best way to learn how to build a big business was to work with other people who were building big businesses.

So I re-entered corporate as an executive assistant supporting CEOs, CFOs, executive teams, all the things. And I love to say that during that period of my season, that is where I got my masters in business. It was like an honorary MBA in business. Just sitting in on meetings, being in boardrooms, listening to how, obviously there was a lot of white men, if we're being honest, listening to how they make deals and how deals happen. And just seeing the whole process of it all, I was like,

Okay, there's a lot to learn here. Like how do you structure a deal? How do you go about raising money? How do you learn how to use other people's money to scale your vision? And that was like pivotal. So I basically have taken everything I've learned now to transition into running my skincare brand. And I'm currently a full-time founder, building Silken and we are a pollution protection skincare brand. So very far from a straight and narrow road, but every piece of the puzzle, every stop on the journey, I can tell. Looking back, didn't feel like it.

Dr. Natasha Henry (04:43)
This is what it takes.

Ericka Nicole (05:09)
it in the moment but looking back in hindsight played a very pivotal role into how we got here.

Dr. Natasha Henry (05:15)
Yeah,

I totally agree with that and I could relate to that as well because

I left my job as a doctor to start a skincare brand, know, Derm Intellect. And sometimes when you are traversing a new path, especially if there's no one in your circle who has done it before, you kind of feel lonely. You feel like, my gosh, is this the right decision? Especially careers in science where you spend a lot of years in formation. You are like, you know, this is it. This is my whole identity. This is my personality. It takes a lot of guts.

Ericka Nicole (05:37)
Mm-hmm.

Okay?

Dr. Natasha Henry (05:47)
to get up and do something else. this past week, I saw a video online and this lady, she was a TikTok video and she was like, nobody talks about the mental strength, the mental fortitude that it takes to get up and leave something, leave a life that you thought you were going to exist in.

just to try something new, to try something that could be better. And I totally relate to your journey. what were some of the skills that you were able to transfer? Because a lot of times when we're traversing new paths or we're learning to pivot, we think that our skills are not transferable. I experienced this, you

Ericka Nicole (06:06)
Yep.

Dr. Natasha Henry (06:22)
coming from medicine into entrepreneurship, even though I'm starting a science-based skincare brand, sometimes it feels as if, my gosh, I don't know a lot about business, then finances and spreadsheets and all of these other things. So how were you able to pivot from forensic science into executive assistant and now into entrepreneurship full-time?

Ericka Nicole (06:33)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it's funny. when I was first and going back to what you said about having to make transitions, that is such a big thing, because it's also an ego thing. If we're being completely honest, like I love the title of being a forensic scientist. It comes with the velour. People look at you a certain way. Same thing with you being a doctor. It's like, OK, you know, and then kind of going like, well, yeah, but like now I'm doing something different. like, well, why would you why would you do that? So it's also an ego hit. But then when I remember when I applied to my first job as an EA and what we also don't talk about is sometimes you have to take two steps back to take

Dr. Natasha Henry (06:50)
Mmm, yep.

Yes.

Ericka Nicole (07:12)
two steps forward because when I decided that I wanted to become an EA, I had to start at an entry level position because I had no skill sets in that area. And that meant taking a sizable pay cut compared to what I was making working in the forensics world. So the question I would always get on job interviews is like, well, why do you want to do this instead? We're like, what skill sets do you have that qualify you to do this role? And even having to communicate how being in forensics, we are very detail oriented, understanding how to handle personal information.

Dr. Natasha Henry (07:32)
Mm-hmm.

Ericka Nicole (07:41)
sensitive information, how to communicate things that are very complex or scientific and communicate that in layman's terms in a way that can be understood by the masses, effective communication, and all these organizational skills, all these data computer skills that come along with it as well, like having to explain that and how those skills that's transfer over, especially where there are some workplaces that are still very traditional, right? You go to school, you get a degree in this field, and that's what you're expected to do for the rest of your life, understanding and failing to understand that these things are transferable.

would say those were the skill sets that from forensics that brought me into the EA space and then grow from the EA space to being a founder. was a lot. I said, that was at Masters and MBA. think it's also important to understand that sometimes you have to serve before you can lead. And I think that was a very humbling experience for me being an executive assistant because you are serving in essence,

Dr. Natasha Henry (08:15)
Mm-hmm.

oof, yeah

Ericka Nicole (08:31)
executives that you work for but in that period of my servitude I learned so much in exchange so it's like I was getting low-key a paycheck to get a master's degree so it kind of works itself out so understanding again like how to structure those deals how to build a team I think that has been like the hardest thing on my founder journey is understanding how to hire well how to hire out your weaknesses how to have discernment with the people that you are bringing onto your team and trusting revision with which is huge

Dr. Natasha Henry (08:41)
Right.

Ericka Nicole (08:59)
how to communicate and talk about money, especially as females. I don't think that that's a conversation that we have. Like when we get together, it's very easy for us to say, my gosh, girl, your hair looks good. Your nail looks good. Makeup, outfit, cute. But like going to dinners with these men and seeing how they just sit down, how's the wife and kids? Great. OK, so about this deal, you I have this investment opportunity for you, you know, and it's like, OK, so this is a different world. And even learning that we as women and especially as a woman of color, we have to get a lot more comfortable talking about

Dr. Natasha Henry (09:10)
Yeah.

you

Wow.

Ericka Nicole (09:26)
about

money, especially when you're going out to raise capital for a brand. So understanding how to facilitate those conversations, where to look. I knew nothing about angel investing, private equity, venture capital. So being in that space was huge. Learning how to build your network. When you're trying to build a business, your network is truly, truly your net worth All of the connections that I've made thus far have been extremely pivotal. And I wouldn't be here without so many people that I've met along the way. So I would say being in that space and just

Dr. Natasha Henry (09:42)
Yeah.

Ericka Nicole (09:54)
being a fly on the wall in those spaces has just taught me so much. So many skills have come from my executive assistant experience.

Dr. Natasha Henry (10:02)
Yeah, I totally agree

what you're saying because going back to what you said about an ego thing, building a business, especially when you're doing it from scratch, you're not coming from a rich family, you don't have daddy's money as they call it or any experience, you really have to kill the ego, especially if you're coming from careers that are so prestigious like ours, know, people, you're a black doctor, that is so amazing, you want to wear the white coat, you want people to call you Dr. Natasha Henry, you want to walk in the hospital with your head held high.

Ericka Nicole (10:29)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Natasha Henry (10:31)
But at the same time, if that is your only drive for choosing a career, you are making the wrong choice. You cannot choose a career based off just your ego alone because then, one, you're probably gonna be miserable at some point in time because ego isn't a big enough reason to push through. And two, you're probably gonna treat people like crap. And I've seen many doctors in my field do that, but the reason why they do that is because they're miserable and they feel as if they have no other option.

Ericka Nicole (10:44)
Yep.

Dr. Natasha Henry (10:58)
They have a chip on their shoulder, you know, like yeah, I did this I I deserve to walk around and treat people like crap but really and truly you don't so transitioning from something such prestigious as Forensic science or medicine you have to kill your ego and especially you have to learn how to be humble as you said be a fly on the wall when you're in rooms with people who are smarter than you who know more than you who probably don't even respect you they're like, what are you doing here? You're just like a executive assistant

Ericka Nicole (11:00)
Exactly.

Yeah.

You're the help.

Right. Literally.

Dr. Natasha Henry (11:26)
you're like an intern. Yeah, you're the help.

let them feel like you're the help, you know, never let them in too much on your plan. Then they see you a few years you're running this multimillion dollar business. They're like, wait, you were my assistant. Exactly. take what you need. And I want to go into what you were saying about financing the business because obviously this is something that I relate to. I

Ericka Nicole (11:31)
Yeah. Exactly. Mm-hmm. You take what you need. Exactly.

Dr. Natasha Henry (11:48)
I look at my savings and the money that I was able to earn and I'm like, I could have probably bought a lot of luxury items or, you know, made more investment. But right now I'm invested in my business and I've invested a lot of money so far in my business. So how has the journey? It is not cheap. Starting a product based business, especially skincare. And if you want it to be a good skincare product, it is not cheap. So you got to get your ducks in a row. You got to get your coins in a row.

Ericka Nicole (11:55)
Mm-hmm.

Skincare is not cheap. Yep.

Yep.

Dr. Natasha Henry (12:15)
And for those of you who are listening who don't know what bootstrapping is, bootstrapping is basically using your own money to finance your business. I want you to tell us about your bootstrapping journey and what have you been able to accomplish so far with the brand Bootstrapping.

Ericka Nicole (12:29)
girl, your girl has spent a lot of money getting this brand to where it is. So to give proper context and timeline, so I like to say the brand was conceived in 2019 on my little self-care sabbatical. 2020 was a mental health year for me. That was a time to be alive. So I wouldn't say that I really went and started working on the brand intentionally in 2022. So we are in 2025. So we're like two years and some change into building this brand. And we spent a lot of money.

Dr. Natasha Henry (12:33)
I feel that.

you

Ericka Nicole (12:59)
And the rendition of the brand that we are at now is not where we started. We've gone through so many pivots. And pivots, again, cost money. So I mean, V1 of the brand, I was like, you know what? Everyone was talking about Amazon at the time. And I was like, you know what? This is going to be an Amazon skincare brand. This is what we're going to do. Went the whole Amazon FBA route. I mean, I'm talking about buying inventory, doing all the things. Launched the brand on Amazon.

Dr. Natasha Henry (13:11)
Mm-hmm.

Ericka Nicole (13:20)
Not what I thought it was gonna be. So I was like, I don't like this, don't want this. I'm gonna pivot to Shopify and I'm gonna do my own thing. And like Amazon is great because you kind of have a built-in network, but you have to pay to play. You have to run PPC ads, you have to get traffic. It's very hard to brand build. You don't own your customer data. Like it's not really a strong foundation to build a brand off of. So I was like, cool, I'm gonna pivot to Shopify. Great, you pivot to Shopify and you have your own platform, but now you have no traffic. So now what do you do? You know, so then I ended up getting stuck with all of this inventory.

Dr. Natasha Henry (13:33)
Right.

right.

You

Ericka Nicole (13:50)
I think I ordered around 500 units at the time. At that time we were private labeling because your girl didn't have coin for custom formulation. So I was like, bet, got stuck with all this inventory and I sold through about 350, 400 units, but there was a hundred units that I just couldn't move that I ended up having to throw away. So that was lost money there. Spending money on time and talent that didn't really equate to anything. So partnering with poor agencies, hiring freelancers that didn't produce any results, nothing.

Dr. Natasha Henry (13:53)
Mm-hmm.

you

Ugh, girl.

Ericka Nicole (14:20)
And then having to really break down the brand and start over. So it was in 2023 that I actually met my current brand strategist. And I remember being introduced to her and I was like, I need help revamping this brand. And she was like, girl, this is not a revamp. This is a tear down. Like whatever you've built thus far, we can do nothing with. This is not the million dollar brand that you're talking about. This does not reflect that. So we need to start over. So everything that was done before logos, marketing, assets, videos, all of that stuff, trash.

Dr. Natasha Henry (14:35)
you

Ericka Nicole (14:47)
money. And then starting over, now I'm hiring a new brand strategist. We're building on a new team, new assets, new brand identity, new visual identity, all of these things. Again, more money. But yeah, it was honestly probably the best decision I ever made. And when I was looking for a brand strategist and realized that that is what I needed, I decided to go with her because I feel like she was the only person who was extremely brutally honest. I'd interviewed a couple other people and they were all like, my goodness, your brand is so cute. my goodness, this is great. And I'm like, it's giving cash grab. We don't want that.

Dr. Natasha Henry (14:55)
Yeah.

Mmm.

Ericka Nicole (15:15)
And she came in and she's like, this is not in alignment with what you want. We're gonna have to tear down start over. It's gonna suck,

and she was absolutely right and she is like my ride or die up until this day like we're actually truly truly friends at this point. So yeah it's been a struggle, it's been a stretch financially, it's been a test of faith. I don't care what anyone says, entrepreneurship is a spiritual thing because you're having faith in something that you don't know the outcome of that hasn't produced any tangible results and you have to keep pushing through when you're not seeing any fruit of your labor. It is a spiritual thing I promise you. But up until this point we've been

Dr. Natasha Henry (15:34)
Woof.

Girl.

Yes. Yeah.

Ericka Nicole (15:48)
to do so much. We're now an internal team of six people. We're still pre-launch, pre-rev. We have finalized our formulations. We have landed our manufacturers. We have our packaging. We actually just launched our community building social media initiatives. We've added some amazing advisors to the team. We're actually hosting our investor lunch to officially open our round in March, March 5th of this year. And then we are scheduled for a fall launch of this year. So we've done a lot.

Dr. Natasha Henry (15:52)
Thanks.

Ericka Nicole (16:16)
It's been a pruning process. But the reality is that you can't skip steps. And of the sucky part about it.

Dr. Natasha Henry (16:23)
my gosh, our journeys are so similar. I feel like we both got started at the same time in 2019. You know, everybody was making body butters and everything out of their kitchen. And obviously I was like, you know what? I like this, let's do this. I started with Body Butters. The brand was called Bodylicious by Natasha. At that time I was still in Mexico and I was selling it. I know, right? It was like pink packaging and like, it was very girly. And I was like, you know.

Ericka Nicole (16:31)
Mm-hmm.

Ooh, that was cute.

Dr. Natasha Henry (16:49)
I was like formulating all my things, selling it to the local communities, got it into retail. It was okay. But at that time I wasn't fully focused on the business. I was still trying to do my exams for US licensing. So my mind was really not there. And in 2023, I started again with the whole process by going to South Korea. And last year, 2024,

Girl, it was a very challenging year. I technically had to start all over again. New manufacturers. I had a co-founder who decided to resign, know, just new everything. And I was just like, you know what? I'm not even... Yeah, that's a whole separate issue. mean, but you know, you know something that I'm realizing a lot of great companies or I've heard a few founder stories and they all started out like that, maybe with a co-founder and then...

Ericka Nicole (17:23)
the co-founder thing is a whole separate issue. Yep, been there too.

Dr. Natasha Henry (17:38)
they didn't have a co-founder anymore. So I don't think you need a co-founder to build a great business. I think I was just looking at it from the side of investors that, they wanna see that you have people behind you. But I can totally relate to what you're saying. Sometimes it feels as if you are breaking everything down and man, all your hard work is gone. All the investment that you've made is gone. But one thing that I have been telling myself, this is a part of the process.

Ericka Nicole (17:49)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Natasha Henry (18:03)
This is going to make your story even more interesting. Nobody wants a cute little, you know, just step one, step two story. We like the twists and the turns. We like to hear how you overcame the challenges. And as you said, it is a pruning process. And I believe that all things work together. I know we are both women of faith. All things work together for the good of them that trust the Lord. Building a business, you're not guaranteed success. You're guaranteed a job. As a forensic scientist, I'm guaranteed a job.

Ericka Nicole (18:10)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Natasha Henry (18:32)
as a doctor, but building a brand, especially in a market that is so competitive right now. We'll talk more about that later on in the conversation. We're not guaranteed success. So this is a faith walk. We know that we will be successful because we are a woman of God and God is by our side. God is our CEO. That's that is how I see it. That is my CEO. He's my co-founder, my brand strategist. So we will be successful creative director because we need that. And I'm so

Ericka Nicole (18:48)
Period. Okay? Okay.

Creative Director, all the things.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Natasha Henry (19:01)
happy for what you have been doing so far. let's talk about fundraising because that is something that I dabbled in last year as well, took a break from it because it takes a lot, especially if you want to launch the brand at the same time. Tell me about your fundraising journey. How has it been for you? How were you able to find your investors, your host in a lunch in March? Like I've never, I don't think I've heard about that strategy before. So just take me through that.

Ericka Nicole (19:27)
Yeah, so it's so funny because again, I was very ignorant to what raising capital actually meant. And it wasn't until I actually went to a networking event in New York and I met this amazing woman. Her name is Abby Sugar. She is a ball headed woman, tattoos everywhere. You would never think she's the type of woman that she is, but she is just such a boss in the CFO, fractional CFO space. And she's very well connected in New York. So I met her at a networking event and I was telling her about my plans to fundraise and she was like, no.

don't need a CFO, you need an accelerator." And she's like, I want to put you in contact with these two women from the June Ventures Accelerator. You need to join. And I was like, okay.

So she made a nice warm email intro to Annie Evans and Kelly Arena. They run Dream Ventures Accelerator. If anyone, and it's nationwide, don't know if it's global, but it's definitely nationwide. But if anyone's looking to raise capital, I cannot recommend Dream Ventures enough. When I say that they have given me, it's a seven week accelerator.

Dr. Natasha Henry (20:08)
you

Ericka Nicole (20:25)
I learned everything that you needed to know about learning how to fundraise. Like that was worth a college degree from understanding like how do you track your conversations? Where do you meet investors? Are you raising on a safe note? Are you raising via equity? How much of your company should be giving away at each round? What are the difference in your pre-seed, seed, series A, series B? Is your company venture backable? You know, like just understanding all of these nuances when it comes to fundraising. And I was like,

Dr. Natasha Henry (20:49)
you

Ericka Nicole (20:54)
Okay.

Dr. Natasha Henry (20:56)
you

Ericka Nicole (20:56)
So

this is something. And then I would say that that was really the kickstart of my understanding how much power is in networking. Because not one, I was affiliated now with this accelerator that is so well connected. mean, Annie and Kelly are just two powerhouse women that I cannot speak highly enough about. But then even being connected to all of these other female founders, it's women only. It's a women only accelerator. I should probably make that clear. But being now connected to all of these other females and being plugged into this community where everyone is just sharing resources, like just all the time.

a really, really great community there. And then from there, now you know how to raise capital, but now you need a pitch deck. You need to learn how to pitch investors. So one of the guest speakers at the, while I was in the accelerator, was a woman named Katie Dunn, and she is a pitch coach, and she works with Power to Pitch. So from the accelerator, I went into a Power to Pitch program, which I'm still a part of today, because they help you, they walk with you until you literally close your round. And they help me with all of my assets. So everything from my pitch script to my pitch deck to

Dr. Natasha Henry (21:24)
Nice.

Ericka Nicole (21:52)
one pager to all of these resources and then they open up their network to you after you complete the the qualifications that you need to get to that point and that has been amazing and then from my pitch program my pitch coach made an introduction to a woman who is now an advisor on the team on on on my team and she's the one who's helping me lead my spv and for those who don't know an spv is called it's a special roll-up vehicle i don't know we want to get too technical to that but basically it means that you can take okay so an spv is basically it's called a special roll-up vehicle

Dr. Natasha Henry (22:07)
Wow.

No, get into it, get into it.

Ericka Nicole (22:20)
And what that allows you to do is to take smaller checks. So when you're raising money for a company, you have something called the cap table. And think of your cap table as like an Excel spreadsheet that has everyone who has a vested stake or equity in your company. It's just like an equity document. So everyone knows who has ownership in the company. And what happens is when you're raising capital and you're taking smaller checks, you don't want to have 150 people on your cap table because it just becomes very messy and very cluttered. So what happens is you have a special roll up vehicle which allows you to take all of

this money and it basically appears on your cap table as one line item. So think of it as like if I raise 150 checks in an SPV, it may go show up on the cap table as, you know, silken fundraise LLC and that would be one line item on the cap table. And that's important for as you go on to raise future rounds. You want to you're typically raising on a safe note, which is like it's an agreement for future equity. So everyone is in alignment. So for legal purposes, for tax purposes and financing and bookkeeping, SPVs are just like a clean

way to raise capital and take smaller checks. But she's helping me lead my SPV and for that we are doing an investor lunch in New York and then we're gonna be doing one in LA in April. And for anyone looking to raise capital I highly highly recommend because one, pitching one-on-one is very very time-consuming. There is, that's a strategy as well like going on LinkedIn, having a Calendly link or something like that and people can book time with you. Your pitch should only be five to seven minutes maximum but you're gonna be using your 60 second pitch probably more often.

Dr. Natasha Henry (23:26)
Mm-hmm.

Ericka Nicole (23:47)
But then you leave time for Q &A follow up questions. that's again, that's very, time consuming. Or you can host a virtual event, which is also an option. But I just find that the attendance rate to those is a little bit lower. The quality of investors that you get may not always be as great. And there's just nothing like in real life community. So having a place for you like we're going to we're going to go all out. We have a really, really nice venue on Fifth Avenue. We're catering lunch. We're bringing the merch. We're bringing the gift bags. We have a presentation. We're doing a sound bath. We're doing all the things and really

Dr. Natasha Henry (24:12)
Nice! Wow.

Ericka Nicole (24:16)
creating the

space to have a good time because especially as a startup founder pre-revenue, investors are investing into you. You don't have any data. You don't have any revenue. There's no numbers to really go off of. Even your financial projections, they're all theoretical. So they are investing in you as a founder. And if you can create an intimate space for them to get to know you and rally for you, that is how you close the deal. So I always recommend, and I learned this in the Dream Ventures Accelerator, but hosting an event if you can is super important depending on where your investor pool is.

Dr. Natasha Henry (24:23)
Yeah.

Ericka Nicole (24:44)
And then if you have to have a third event which is virtual for those who couldn't attend either then that's also an option But you'll see quicker close rounds if I think you do an in-person event So I say all that to say the finance the investor journey is not an easy one It is a full-time job and that's why being able to have a team if you can or being able to delegate to give you time to To free up time on your calendar to do all of this because in raising capital is a full-time job It it's a process

Dr. Natasha Henry (25:07)
Yeah. Yeah, man, you

said a lot just now, a lot of valuable information that I still have to dissect it a little bit more for our listeners and all of these other people who may be listening.

Ericka Nicole (25:16)
you

Dr. Natasha Henry (25:20)
Through Dream Accelerator, they're the ones who helping you to host this dinner, or what was the process like of finding the investors to invite to this dinner?

Ericka Nicole (25:28)
Yeah, no. So I went through Dream Ventures, the accelerator, and then I went into a program called Power to Pitch, and they're the ones who helped me with my deck and all of those things. And then while I was in that program, I did two programs back to back. So I did the seven week accelerator, and then I joined the Power to Pitch. While I was in Power to Pitch, my pitch coach made an introduction to someone that was in her network who is now an advisor for the brand. And typically, if you're running an SPV, you want an advisor of yours to help run it because they know you, they know your brand, they've been

alongside of you for the past how many months if not years so they know you better than anybody and then typically your advisor opens up their network because typically your advisor should be someone that can open doors for you if we're being honest so yeah ever be honest especially if they have equity in your company like what do you bring to the table so and she is the one who's opened up her network to me and has curated the guest list but then through that there's also people that I've added to the guest list like people from my network past bosses I worked at a private equity company

Dr. Natasha Henry (26:10)
up a year.

Okay.

Ericka Nicole (26:25)
company.

Like past bosses I've asked for referrals from, like who do you know in your network who may be interested, networking on LinkedIn, even being in the accelerator. They have a celebration dinner after every accelerator where they invite VCs and angels. So basically she's opened up her network to me and then I've reached out to some of my old contacts who I've kept warm relationships from because again this is, chestnut checkers. So you have to be able to play the long game and build those relationships because again raising capital, it's not like you push today and get a

Dr. Natasha Henry (26:46)
Yeah.

Ericka Nicole (26:51)
check tomorrow. It is months of following up, building that relationship. They're watching you. They want to know what you were talking about three months ago. Did you execute on the plans that you said that you have? Like they are investing in you. So again, it's chestnut checkers, especially if you want quality strategic investors, which I always recommend. You don't just want to take any money. You want strategic capital, people that can help you on your journey.

Dr. Natasha Henry (26:52)
No,

I totally agree

with that. I mean, wow, I'm looking at you and I'm smiling. I feel like a proud sister, proud mom, all the proud relatives that exist because I'm looking at you and I can tell that you're gonna be successful. It's just a matter of time. You have the drive, you have the energy, you have the dedication, and I strongly believe that we're gonna be peers. We're gonna be peers in this. Like I am so.

Ericka Nicole (27:26)
You

Period. Matching yachts. We talked

about this on the last call. Matching yachts, matching jets. It's on the way. I'm going to be sailing to the Caymans from Miami.

Dr. Natasha Henry (27:45)
Yes! Yes! Yes, I totally agree with that. And the power. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,

girl. I got you, I got you. But the power of networking. I'm just sitting here and I'm blown away by that because obviously in the Cayman Islands, I don't have the network as in New York, right? But I capitalize on what I have. I've gone to a lot of networking events, you know, in London, in the States. I use LinkedIn like it is...

Instagram or TikTok, people sleep on LinkedIn. And I tell a lot of people in my circle that because of the digitalization of the world, you have no excuse now to say that, I'm not gonna do whatever I say I'm gonna do. It may be a little bit harder. It may be harder for me here in the Cayman Islands than it is for somebody living right in the core, in the.

Ericka Nicole (28:11)
Yeah.

They do.

Dr. Natasha Henry (28:34)
of networking for like skincare and beauty but it's still possible because someone who lives in New York they may not achieve the things that somebody who lives let's say in Jamaica or in the Cayman Islands achieves just because they don't have the drive they don't have the passion so really and truly location does play a part but it's not

Ericka Nicole (28:35)
Right.

Dr. Natasha Henry (28:52)
the entire piece of the puzzle. Because of things like this, we are able to hop on a podcast, we're able to talk, we're able to share information, ideas, and that is a power of social media. So I wanna implore everyone who's listening, if you wanna start a business, if you wanna start a venture, use social media. Don't just scroll. I know that it's very, it gives you a boost of dopamine. Don't just scroll. Use it as a way to connect. A lot of people are afraid to comment and like. Liking and comment, it's free.

Ericka Nicole (29:10)
Yep.

Dr. Natasha Henry (29:21)
They're not charging us to do any of those things. Send the connection request on LinkedIn. Send the DM. Start the podcast. Start the YouTube channel. Start posting on Instagram because you never know the doors that it may open up for you. So Erica, I want to get into the brand now in terms of product, what you guys are launching with because

Ericka Nicole (29:22)
Very much.

Dr. Natasha Henry (29:41)
you guys are focused on the skin microbiome right and in the last couple years we've heard a lot of talk about the gut health gut microbiome and a lot of brands are starting to focus on microbiome now a few the skin microbiome i know tula was the first brand that i really saw

hone into that as their concept. those of you who are listening who may not know what the Skin Microbiome is, want you to really explain what it is and why Silken is different and why they should even consider buying your product because you take this unique approach.

Ericka Nicole (30:15)
Yeah, so to keep it super simple your skin microbiome is just that balance of good and bad bacteria on your skin. And silken, we're focused on pollution protection. So what happens is when you're in a polluted environment and the reality is 83 percent of the United States is combating polluted air, those you have these tiny particles in the air and they're called particulate matter. And what happens is they land on your skin and they

So we believe in a skin barrier approach through the microbiome. So balancing the microbiome to strengthen the skin barrier. And that is our ethos for everything that we do at Silken. So one in three Americans are subject

it's a poor air quality and air pollution increases the risk of acne and eczema by over 121 percent. So these are this is that's like the cornerstone of everything that we do. So what makes our approach unique is that one the way that we make science accessible. So it's funny the brand that you mentioned they were actually in a lawsuit not too long ago because of how they were marketing their their microbiome based claims. Yeah. So they were saying that they were there are probiotics in their products and that

Dr. Natasha Henry (31:28)
Tula?

Ericka Nicole (31:34)
that ethically and scientifically cannot be correct because probiotics are live strains of bacteria. So what they want to say is that they're using pre and post biotics, which are like the pre pre alive and kind of like dead bacteria, if that makes sense. But they were using the term probiotic a lot because that's just the verbiage that people understand from like piggybacking off of gut health. But so we use pre and post biotics in our formulations. And they actually I think they actually settled that recently. But there's another brand that I won't name that was actually going through something

Dr. Natasha Henry (31:52)
Yeah.

Ericka Nicole (32:03)
So the FTC has been coming really, really hard, coming hard down on brands and their claims, especially in the microbiome space because it's a growing category. So we use pre and post biotics and we are very focused on the pollution protection niche. There are a lot of brands that use the microbiome based claims just for skin barrier protection, but we are really diving into the science of how does it alter your skin chemistry to not just strengthen your skin barriers, but to make your skin more resilient to the effects of pollution long term.

Dr. Natasha Henry (32:05)
you

Yeah.

Ericka Nicole (32:31)
So it's funny because we're actually going into clinicals next week actually, which is really, really exciting for us because we've been doing a lot of like the paper formulas and all of those things behind the scenes. But to now have like actual documentation that all of our theses are correct that we'll be putting claims on really just adds to the credibility of the brand and is really exciting to see come to life full term. So that is our unique approach to pollution protection.

Dr. Natasha Henry (32:53)
really exciting because, I mean, obviously that's a growing category and a lot of brands will be capitalizing on that, either new brands or existing brands based off products that they come out with. And I think it's important for us to, as brand founders, especially scientific brand founders, to really hone into that and capitalize on our science and our knowledge and make it accessible to the general public. Consumers are getting smarter.

They're not just wanting to consume something, oh, this is a pretty packaging. I mean, you still have that type of customer persona, but the average consumer wants to know why. They want to know, okay, this is a $40, whatever serum, why am I buying it? How is it gonna help my skin? And I strongly believe that it is our responsibility as brands to educate consumers. I am...

Ericka Nicole (33:24)
Right.

Right.

Dr. Natasha Henry (33:43)
I consider myself an educated consumer, because I love science as well. I will dive into, I will read the ingredients, I will read the mechanism, that's just me. The average person probably isn't gonna do all of that, but they still would like to know. I think a lot of times, scientists, we can feel like our consumers, they're dumb and we have to dumb down everything for them, but no. People are smart, people want to know what they're putting in their bodies and on their skin. So how...

Ericka Nicole (34:03)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Natasha Henry (34:09)
Are you going to do that with Silken in terms of the educational aspect of the brand?

Ericka Nicole (34:15)
Yeah, so we actually just kicked off our community building initiatives on social media and we're really, really big advocates of edutainment content. So how do we take scientific concepts and how do we make it fun on social media? Like we don't want it to be boring. We don't want to hit you with fact sheets and ingredient labels and all that. like, ain't nobody reading that because I'm neither am I as a consumer on social media. As a consumer on social media, like we're just not doing that. So that's something that the team and I have put a lot of thought behind. How are we going to communicate this in a way that is fun and fresh on social media?

Dr. Natasha Henry (34:23)
Mmm.

Yeah.

Ericka Nicole (34:45)
And that's what we're doing through skits and through employee generated content. And nowadays as a founder, you're also a content creator. So I'm on there as well making content and you know, commentary on certain things. It's funny, I recently just made a reel on the page. Alex Earl was recently in New York and she was talking about how her skin was breaking out. So I kind of jumped on that and made a video commentary on that, a green screen video on that. it's like finding ways that are entertaining and relatable to people and in a way that's entertaining for them to consume information.

Dr. Natasha Henry (34:51)
yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Ericka Nicole (35:13)
And because again, I think there's a very big education gap still when it comes to the skin microbiome. Again, we're really coming off of the back of that gut health movement and understanding the gut microbiome, probiotics, all of those things. But there's still like a bridge that needs to be connected and we intend to be the brand that bridges that gap.

Dr. Natasha Henry (35:31)
Amen. I love that. I want to go back. This is like this has nothing to do with the product. We're going to come back to that before I forget. You keep mentioning your team. You are pre-revenue pre-launch. How are you paying them? Is it through equity? Has everybody been like, listen, girl, we're riding with you till the end. Like, how has that been for you?

Ericka Nicole (35:52)
It

has been a mix of both. only one person on our team currently has equity, which is my brand strategist. She's the one who was with me from the beginning when I had just had to start the brand over, didn't have two pennies to rub together. I was like, girl, I can't pay you. So we got to work something out. So she's the only person that has equity currently in the company. But I also do pay her monthly as well. And it's just bootstrapped. was working again as an executive assistant. I recently just resigned to focus fully on the fundraise and I'll be paying myself a salary from the business.

Dr. Natasha Henry (36:05)
Mm-hmm.

Ericka Nicole (36:22)
Yeah, it's been bootstrapping and the thing about it is when you are as a founder It is your responsibility to cast a vision that people can ride along with and if you cast the vision big enough You will have people that just want to be a part of the journey and are willing to compromise because they want to help you So if I'm being fully honest at this stage I'm probably not paying anyone on my team their market rates because with what budget but they are just so gung-ho about the vision we have such a good relationship they want to be a part of something

big and that just lets me know that as a founder I have built a solid foundation that people feel like they can help me build and that makes me feel really really good. So when it comes to building a team and if you don't have capital obviously equity is one thing but don't just be giving equity away to everybody because once you give away equity you can't give it back. I don't care what people say about buying people shares back whatever no once you give away equity it's hard to get back it's just gone just just factor it out that way. But if you build a vision big enough if you can communicate a

Dr. Natasha Henry (37:06)
Mm-hmm.

Ericka Nicole (37:19)
path to growth and how you're going to get there, odds are you're going to have people that want to help you build.

Dr. Natasha Henry (37:24)
Yeah, I

personally think equity should be reserved for not only C-suite executives, for example, brand strategists, co-founders, maybe if you need a CFO or CTO, if you're a technical brand, those type of rules, maybe even chief marketing, know, executive marketing officers, but don't be giving out your equity like that because especially you...

Ericka Nicole (37:29)
He hires.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-mm. Don't be doing that. Don't be doing that.

Dr. Natasha Henry (37:47)
It's gonna it can come back and bite you in the future, you know But I really as a brand founder you have to know how to sell a vision You have to be a visionary you can't be like, you know, I'm gonna build this brand But you know if it doesn't if it doesn't work out that you guys could go back to doing whatever you want It doesn't work that way because then people are gonna be like well if that's the case, I'm not gonna waste my time

Ericka Nicole (38:01)
There is no if this doesn't work out. There is no if it doesn't work out.

Dr. Natasha Henry (38:10)
invest my time, my energy, my expertise into something that you're building and you don't even know if it's going to, I mean, you don't even have the faith that it's going to be successful. As we said early in the conversation, it's not guaranteed. It's not a guarantee that you're going to make millions or it's going to be successful, but you have to be so delusional as they call it nowadays. You have to have faith that it's going to work and be able to sell that vision to others. So I want to go back to the product that you are launching because I think, I mean,

Ericka Nicole (38:11)
Yeah.

Yup. Yup.

Dr. Natasha Henry (38:40)
I'm thinking it's a serum, I'm not sure if it's one product, if it's a serum or moisturizer, what's that gonna look like?

Ericka Nicole (38:43)
Mm-hmm.

So we're launching two products. launching a serum and a moisturizer. serum, both of our products are microbiome friendly, obviously. But our serum is our microbiome serum. And then we have our barrier repair recovery cream. So think of the serum as like your first layer to help repair damage and really seal in that moisture. And then we have our repair cream that comes over and really just kind of holds you together for the rest of the day. So like we refer to the serum as like kombucha for your skin, in a sense. That's kind of how we talk about it internally. OK.

Dr. Natasha Henry (39:08)
Okay.

love kombucha.

Ericka Nicole (39:14)
kombucha for your skin and then the moisturizer just seals in all the goodness. I was just about to say I need to send you some lab samples.

Dr. Natasha Henry (39:17)
Okay, well, you gotta send me some. I'm excited. I can be... Yeah,

yeah. I can send you lab samples of mine and you send me lab samples. I am definitely open and down for that. So we can hit up emails after this. But okay, so you said it's like kombucha for your skin. Super excited for that. You started off your first brand with 500 as the MOQ. What is your MOQ now?

Ericka Nicole (39:32)
Mm-hmm

Yeah, so we have upgraded. are now custom formulating. We spent a year on our custom formulas, which was a process and expensive. But now MLQs are definitely a little bit higher. You're looking if you can. So I'm fortunate that again, my advisor, again, your advisor should be able to open doors for you. Normally in this space, I would say MLQs around 2500 to 5000 per SKU. But just because she has had long term clientele and long term relationships, we're able to kind of get in at that like 1500. We're going to push for that.

Dr. Natasha Henry (39:48)
Right.

Mm-hmm.

Ericka Nicole (40:13)
mark. again, relationships are extremely important. And if you can piggyback off somebody else's, please do.

Dr. Natasha Henry (40:14)
Mm-hmm.

That's really good. Yeah,

no, that's really good. Because my MOQ right now is like 5,000. They're like, it's 5,000, girl. I'm like, OK. Like, no negotiated? No. Are you manufactured in the US, or where are you manufacturing?

Ericka Nicole (40:24)
Yep. Yeah. Right, right. Yeah.

US. So we formulate we formulated R &D and then we are manufacturing in the US. But it's hard, though, because what's what's happened is back in the day and I would say back in like that 2019 era when I was kind of just looking into things, MLQs weren't as large as they were. And I think it's because the space wasn't and I hate to use this word and I use it very easily, but the space wasn't as saturated. I think after 2020, when everyone started building businesses, everyone was starting to build skincare brands and everybody just wanted to everyone was just reaching out to everybody. And what happened is manufacturers

Dr. Natasha Henry (40:33)
Okay.

Ericka Nicole (41:02)
were taking chances on people whose brands were not successful. And it was costing them resources, personnel, money, all of these things. to protect themselves and their companies, they had to raise MOQs to weed out the people who were serious and those who weren't. So I think that's been a shift. Yeah.

Dr. Natasha Henry (41:17)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I that's a great perspective. I could see that and I don't know. Why do you not like to say the industry saturated because I think it's saturated. I think the bar of entry has lowered a lot because of social media, because of the access to information that we now have. I mean, you can build a brand quite, you know, pretty easily nowadays if you just like really decide that that's what you're going to do. You can do it. So I think the bar of entry has lowered, but I will make a statement and I will say that

Ericka Nicole (41:43)
Yeah.

Dr. Natasha Henry (41:50)
there's gonna be a shift in the next 10 years where brands who are probably launching now, or who launched in the past, in the recent past, I think there's gonna be a shift in the industry because of consumers getting smarter, because of the constant entry of new brands where some brands who we see today, we may not see them in 10 years. So I think for a lot of new brands,

The way for us to make sure that we consistently have a space in the industry is to one, obviously have a unique approach, dealing with the skin microbiome, have a unique story and founder's story, and to be able to get on podcasts like this, to talk about the brand. The days of you just launching a brand without a face, you

they're over. Nobody's really going to buy that unless you have like a big investor who's backing you and you have like good, super good marketing. You have a lot of marketing budget. Yeah, the odds of you succeeding like that, I mean, they're dropping. So I think good brand story, good brand product. And also something that I was thinking about the other day is how you're able to grow with your consumers. Because if you're just focused on, let's say a specific demographic of like 25 to 35 in the next

Ericka Nicole (42:36)
Done. Yeah. Right.

Celebrity endorsements, all those things, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Natasha Henry (43:06)
15 to 20 years, that demographic is gonna get older. And then there'll be a new set of 25 to 35 year olds who may not identify with your brand, who may not say, okay, this brand is for like old people or whatever. Like this is not my brand right now. So you have to grow with your consumers in terms of like.

Ericka Nicole (43:10)
Yep.

Yeah, yeah.

Dr. Natasha Henry (43:24)
their mind in terms of psychographics. So I think a lot of brands now who focus on psychographics versus demographics, I think that will be a key differentiating factor whether or not they'll be around and be the next L'Oreal and the next Olay and you all these big household brands that we know. So I want to get into health and wellness because I know that you're really big on that. That was one of the things I saw on LinkedIn and I was like, well, yeah, I totally relate to that. A skincare brand founder who is focused on health and wellness, we need to connect.

Ericka Nicole (43:31)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

You

Dr. Natasha Henry (43:54)
because I am focused on that as well. But I'll give you a little confession right now on this podcast. Last year, 2024, I was trying to launch Derm Intellect and I burnt myself out. Like literally I was burnt out. Burnt out from January to December. And it never happened. I never launched my brand. And I was like, wow, you know what? This year, moving into 2025, even though I have to start some things over, I'm gonna take it slow.

Ericka Nicole (44:07)
Girl. Girl.

Yeah?

Dr. Natasha Henry (44:22)
I'm gonna focus on myself, I'm gonna do my little Pilates, I'm gonna eat well, I'm gonna try to sleep well, and just do things as they come along. burnout isn't, you don't get a medal for burnout. I think a lot of times growing up in entrepreneurship, because it's so male dominated, or it was so male dominated, you think that you have to spend all of these sleepless nights and working on the brand and all those things. So I wanna ask you,

Ericka Nicole (44:35)
Right.

Dr. Natasha Henry (44:46)
For someone who's so heavily focused on health and wellness, how are you able to reject the narrative of hustle culture and what does that look like in your daily life as you're building Silken?

Ericka Nicole (44:59)
Yeah, so it's a very, it's a very new approach because I definitely fell victim to that as well. And it's very easy because especially in the early days when you're building, I do believe that you have to be low key, high key obsessed with your brand. Like you eat, sleep, drink, shower, go to sleep, wake up. It's the only thing that's on your mind. You have to be so indulged in it because especially in the beginning stages when it's just you or you and a co-founder or you and just one other person, you're handling multiple aspects of the brand. And I think that obsessive period is very important.

It's because that is where you get to know your brand inside and out and I think that is where your brand identity really begins to form because like you said at the end of the day the brand is a representation of the founder especially when so many founders are front-facing. So there's a season for that and I think it's a season that can't be skipped necessarily especially in those early days but you do have to recognize when enough is enough. So I actually started my podcast Boss Babe Reset to document my self-care journey because I was just coming

out of my season of burnout and I was like, this is not sustainable. If I'm saying that I want to make an exit from this company in the next five to seven years, if I can't make it through two years, that exit is never going to come. Like that success is never going to come. So we need to figure out a way to do this sustainably. And at the time, and I would say this was like in the early year, like 2022 ish, I was, I was drained. mean, my relationships were suffering. I had put on weight. I wasn't going to the gym. My skin was starting to break out because I wasn't drinking enough water throughout the

Like I would go like an entire day and be like did I did I eat like did I drink some water? I would be like hunched over on my laptop like not walking outside not getting air my Relationships were suffering family and friends weren't hearing from me. I wasn't happy with myself I was feeling stuck because the business isn't growing so that's kind of sucky and now my personal life and my health is sucky like everything just sucks and This this is not it. She is not me. I am NOT her So I was like something's got to give so I started the podcast to kind of just document some of the things that

Dr. Natasha Henry (46:31)
well.

Yeah. Yeah.

Ericka Nicole (46:57)
was going through. So I really started going back to therapy and she was like, girl, this is not sustainable. You have to start changing things. And I think the biggest thing for me was beginning to set boundaries with myself. And I have come a very, very long way. Nowadays, the boundaries that I have with me and other people...

Your girl is set. OK. So and it's really small things if you think about it. Like I have a workout routine like Tuesday, Thursday, Saturdays are my workout days. Nine a.m. That is a non-negotiable. I will not take any meetings. I don't have any phone calls. The team knows not to call me before 11 o'clock on a Thursday or Tuesday because I'm not going to answer because that is my me time. I'm waking up. I'm doing my devotional. I'm going to have my matcha. I'm going to go to my workout. I'm going to come home shower. I'm going to decompress for a second and then I'm going to start my work day. So I don't have to answer every email.

Dr. Natasha Henry (47:13)
you

Yes.

Ericka Nicole (47:42)
as soon as it comes in. I don't have to answer every phone call as soon as it comes in. I'm setting boundaries for my time. Like I was working all hours. I mean, the nights that I couldn't sleep, I will literally get out of my bed at one, two o'clock in the morning and then like just start like working on the computer. And it's like, no, girl, you're going to sit here in the dark and look at the ceiling until you fall asleep. Like we're not doing that. So and even with my time now, and it's hard because I have an international team, so we're navigating different time zones. So that was sometimes it's like, you know, it's like 8 a.m. here, but it's like 8 a.m. in Australia.

Dr. Natasha Henry (47:58)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, same.

Ericka Nicole (48:11)
and it's like I guess well I'm taking a meeting but now time blocking so I have all of my meetings are on Wednesdays so like my husband knows Wednesdays that's that's a workload day I'm probably gonna be on calls after he gets home from work all of these things but during the week any any other day but Wednesday don't call me after 630

Dr. Natasha Henry (48:27)
Mm-hmm.

Ericka Nicole (48:29)
Send an email, send a voice note, and I'll get back to you. And even that is something that's been super helpful. Like having my team send me voice notes. We can't afford Slack, it's not in budget yet, so we use WhatsApp because it's free. So we have our WhatsApp chat. And like even sending voice notes, I've realized that that is a lot more efficient, a more efficient way for me to communicate with my team, especially if they can't call me. So finding all of these little hacks that have helped me avoid that burnout trap. And I've realized that it's allowed me to be a better leader because when you don't have

Dr. Natasha Henry (48:32)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Mmm.

Ericka Nicole (48:59)
capacity,

when you are stressed, when you're not feeling good, your team feels it. And if I'm not able to be a good leader, there's no way that this brand is going to reach its full potential. So it's on me to make sure that I'm good so that the team is good, so that I can steward the investment that I'm looking to gain properly, that I can build a healthy community and have a healthy persona online, that I can have healthy interpersonal relationships, that I can feel good about myself and the goals that I want to have in the future. And that's really what the podcast came

about for us. So now like Boss Baby Brief said it's all about self-care hacks for high achievers and it's really just me going through all of my little self-care tips and trips that I've picked up on the way from therapy to prayer to boundaries to networking to anything that I can do to make building your team like anything that I can do to make my life just a smidgen easier. I'm gonna do it.

Dr. Natasha Henry (49:38)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah,

no, I love that. I want to ask you to end the conversation, but I'll ask you after that. I'll ask you after I ask you this question, is how are you able to navigate basically your personal life and your business life and all of these things? We know that they're all intertwined and you're married now. So what does that look like for you being a business woman?

running a business, but also being a wife. How are you able to balance all that for women who think that they can't have it all? I believe that we can have it all, but just not all at the same time. That's just what I believe. As you said before, there are seasons for certain things. So how are you able to navigate that in your personal life?

Ericka Nicole (50:19)
Mm-hmm.

Yep. Yep.

Absolutely. think it's first acknowledging that balance as a myth. Like there's no such thing as balance. Again, we can have it all, but probably not on this at the same time. And that the reality is that life in seasons are there just seasons of trade offs. You know, there are going to be some seasons where the business takes priority and there are some seasons where my relationship takes priority. And I do my best to, guess, have an equally distributed share, but on on a micro level. So like, again, planning those date nights and having times after and setting boundaries with my team. Like, listen, they know they know husband comes home

at 630, don't call her because she with her husband. She not going to answer you. She not going to answer you. Yeah, you know, because like in the future, I hope to be a mom and within the next five to seven years, like, you know, so like if I want that, I plan to have the business for that long. But, you know, it's just like finding sustainable ways. And I think those boundaries are so important. So again, and then even knowing what's important for me, because yes, I have all these other people to take care of. You know, I have my husband, I have my team. I'm a daughter, niece, a godmother, an auntie, like all of these different titles.

Dr. Natasha Henry (50:59)
Yes. Love that.

Yeah.

Right.

Ericka Nicole (51:27)
And

all of these people need something from you in some capacity and there's nothing wrong with that. But then again, it's like making sure my cup is full first. You can't pour from an empty cup. So if I can't go to happy hour this week, guys, I'm sorry. Like, love you guys. We'll do something, you another time. And another thing that I've realized is if you're going to cancel on people, you have to give an alternative. So if the friends are like, let's go out and let's do this. And I'm like, no, I don't want to. But, you know, do you want to come to the gym with me tomorrow? Like, that's a great way for us to spend time with each

Dr. Natasha Henry (51:39)
Yeah.

I love that.

Ericka Nicole (51:55)
Or you know, I don't feel like going out, you know to do this to do dinner or whatever because we're saving money because again skincare brands are expensive Well, I come over let's do like wine and Netflix this weekend. How about we do that instead? So Finding things that work for you like if you're gonna cancel on people or if you need to move things around Give alternatives that work in your budget in your not in your budget But in your in your new world and then what happens is people begin to adapt to your new norms because what happens is over time You evolve the Erica four years ago that could go out three three nights a week

Dr. Natasha Henry (51:55)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Ericka Nicole (52:24)
and bounce back like she used to. She is not me anymore. So you have to kind of re-event. I am not her. So it takes me three to four business days to recover after a good night out. So I'm like, we're not doing that. So what happens is as you begin to like restructure and like re-show people who you are in this new season, they begin to acknowledge that. And then they begin to be like, okay, well, Erica's not really coming out with us to do this anymore. But I know she would love this painting class. And maybe that's something that's just more at my alley. So people begin to adapt.

Dr. Natasha Henry (52:24)
Exactly.

I am the her.

Yeah.

Ericka Nicole (52:53)
the new things and boundaries are always going to be hard at first but people adapt. It's just change. It's a change season and they'll get over it but yeah that's where we're at.

Dr. Natasha Henry (53:02)
Yeah, I'm kind of doing the

same thing too, because I really started to get more hobbies. So I love pickleball. So I have a friend, she comes over and I'm like, hey, let's go play pickleball or let's go to Pilates. Things that I know that I love doing, but also they enjoy doing as well. But it also helps to elevate us as people, like playing pickleball.

Ericka Nicole (53:13)
Mm-hmm.

right.

Dr. Natasha Henry (53:20)
getting active, that's good for you, that's good for me, it's a good bonding time as well. So definitely adapting your leisure activities to your daily lifestyle. And as you were speaking and as we've been having this conversation, wrapping up now, but one thing I can really, I'm proud of for the both of us is that we're learning a lot of lessons on our own time and on our own time.

Because imagine if we had investors backing us and making all of these mistakes, having to start all over and not learning how to balance, it would be even more stressful. So even in the delay of launching a brand, mean, there are lessons to be learned and there are things to be grateful for. So I'm really grateful that we have taken the time to really...

Ericka Nicole (53:43)
Okay?

Mm-mm. Mm-mm.

Yep.

Dr. Natasha Henry (54:05)
embark on this journey of self-discovery. And in so doing, we're able to, you know, become better founders as we are launching these amazing skincare brands that I know we're gonna launch. So to wrap up, yes, he's always on time, Yes, I mean, maybe if we started sooner, we wouldn't have gotten to know each other. So I'm grateful that our paths are crossing.

Ericka Nicole (54:18)
Okay, God is always on time. If nothing else, God is always on time.

Exactly.

Dr. Natasha Henry (54:30)
So as we're closing, want you to give me one habit based off your journey, your self care journey, wellness journey, one habit that you think every entrepreneur should have, especially if they're launching a brand, if they're bootstrapping, they don't have a huge team. Which habit do you think is the most important for them to have?

Ericka Nicole (54:55)
I would say my top habit or hack would be time blocking your calendar. If you are a solo founder especially, your time is your greatest asset. It is your greatest resource. And sometimes we get caught up in the busy work that we lose sight on the overall vision and the overall strategy. And that can set you back a lot more than you may anticipate. So making sure that you are strategic with your time is extremely important. If you're looking at an email and it's taking you 20 minutes to draft two sentences, you probably need to shut the

Dr. Natasha Henry (55:23)
You

Ericka Nicole (55:24)
computer,

you need to go for a walk and set a dedicated time, maybe an hour or two hours a day where you're like, okay, I'm only going to respond to emails during this time. So and same thing with like your meetings. If you have a team, if you're meeting with your team set set really strict guidelines around your calendar, because what happens is that protects your time that allows you to be more productive, it allows you to be more strategic. And in all, it would hopefully allow you to scale and grow your business much faster.

Dr. Natasha Henry (55:47)
Yeah, that's

a great hack. recently started doing that and my gosh, does it make a world of difference? I really love the fact that I get to be even more organized and structured and other people around you are able to fit into those time blocks as well. So you're not super stressed out and scramming for time and I need extra five minutes here. No, you know that specific tasks are dedicated within that specific time period. And before we close, I wanted to ask you this, but I forgot.

Ericka Nicole (55:54)
Mm-hmm.

Yep.

Dr. Natasha Henry (56:13)
What does the name Silken mean? Why did you choose that name? It's a very interesting name.

Ericka Nicole (56:19)
Yeah, so I really wanted something that was very soft and lustrous because I feel like that was just the era that I was in at that time. Like, again, I was coming out of corporate, the forensic toxicology scene. you know, forensics is not a glamorous job. It's kind of a 24-7 thing. Like, you never know when crime is going to occur. So you just never know when you're going to get an on-call call to come in. And I was kind of ditching that lifestyle behind. And I was traveling, refining myself. I wanted something that was just soft. Like, we are ditching hustle culture. We are taking care of ourselves. We are prioritizing our

wellness. like, silken just was like, yeah, we're here, we're soft, and we're doing it. And same thing with our skin. We want our skin to be healthy, healthy, soft, and all of these things. So I think soft is the best word to describe where silken came from.

Dr. Natasha Henry (57:04)
Okay, perfect.

And for those of you who are watching and listening, where can we find you as Erica? Where can we find the brand? When can we expect the launch? Because I'm excited, so I gotta start marking my calendar. What's going on with all of that? Just tell us where we can find you and the brand.

Ericka Nicole (57:17)
Hahaha

Yeah, so we have so many activations coming up. So you're have to come to New York eventually, girl. Okay, you gotta find your way up here. But if you're interested in me, you can find me on social media at TheEricaNicole. That's E-R-I-C-K-A Nicole. I'm very active on there, I know my stories. If you wanna follow the brand, it's at Silkenco. That's silken with two Ns, S-I-L-K-E-N-N-co. We recently just launched our pollution report. So if you're actually interested in seeing how you just type in your zip code, if you wanna see what are the dominant pollutants are in your area

Dr. Natasha Henry (57:26)
yeah.

Ericka Nicole (57:52)
they're affecting your skin, you can just tap the link in our bio and take our pollution report and it'll give you a full breakdown on how to protect your skin from pollution. We're launching September 2025, hopefully it's going to be a New York Fashion Week launch which is going to be extremely, extremely exciting. Girl, we're doing a New York City takeover, so like I said we have a lot of fun things happening. So if you're not following us on social, if you're not signed up to our email list, our email list obviously gets exclusive access to all of our events. We're doing Pilates with the girls, we're doing hot girl walks, we're doing all the things

Dr. Natasha Henry (58:02)
Woohoo! Nice!

Yes, I love that.

Ericka Nicole (58:21)
in New York. So she's gonna be cute in a fun time and you want to be a part of it because girl why not? And we're also gender neutral, girls and boys, let me make that clear. yeah, girls and boys.

Dr. Natasha Henry (58:26)
I love that.

Yeah, I love that. No, probably, listen, I

probably will pop into New York sometime this year. And when I'm there, I'll definitely hit you up. We can go out for like coffee or whatever. And if I'm there when the brand launches, I love to see everything that you're doing. But Erica, this was such an amazing conversation from the first time we had that little 15 minute chat. was like, okay, I can't wait to have her on the podcast. You're so eloquent. You speak so fluently about what you're doing. I am very sure.

Ericka Nicole (58:42)
Yes.

You

Dr. Natasha Henry (58:57)
that you're going to be successful. And I wish you all the best as you're about to raise capital. I know it's hard. I know it's something that, you know, takes a lot of energy, but with God, all things are possible. So I look forward to seeing your headline of Erica raised. I don't know how much you're raising, but whatever, you know, that article. I look forward to seeing that. Thank you so much for joining me on the Unseen Vision podcast. And I look forward to connecting with you in the near future.

Ericka Nicole (59:08)
Okay.

Yep.

Thank you for having me and I can't wait to keep following your journey. I'm so inspired by you as well. Like girl, you are doing the thing and I'm just so happy that we have connected because this has been like epic and thank you for sharing your platform with me. I appreciate it.

Dr. Natasha Henry (59:35)
Thank you, you're welcome, no problem.