About Meg
Co-founder, CEO and Chief Product Officer of Vermouth Beauty, a company that creates gorgeous lip colours, made of sustainable, nourishing ingredients and packaged in 100% compostable materials
Trained as a painter, and ex-researcher at the British Library
Experienced in product management and strategic consulting
Key ‘a-ha’ moments from this podcast
Focus groups can be eye-opening. Talk to your customers early.
“We had initially started thinking we would do refillables…we were lucky that our co-founder was a data scientist who helped us run focus groups which helped us change the direction”
Co-founding is like managing a romantic relationship - you get to know each other over time and give each other honest feedback. But the trust helps make things easier
“[Co-founding] has been a really beautiful experience but developing a partnership is difficult. We were getting to know each other over time. When I first prototyped and put out something really bad, I needed someone to see it, and to have that level of trust in a collaboration is crucial”
“We push each other, and sometimes we fight over pushing each other. You need to have that room…it’s not unlike a marriage”
Give your co-founder and yourself forgiveness, you are a team!
“There are times when you are not going to hit the mark everytime. In a partnership, and just in the workplace, you need to be realistic and learn to forgive”
Leverage existing businesses out there to promote your products. Female founder communities are a great way to market your products
“The network of female founders in Seattle is incredible…we launched at their event, and we got our first customers there…it was a great validation. So, we kind of got our first customers from other founders ”
…it has put us in places we never would have gotten”
Hire the right person - the one who is excited about your business, and can be a great addition to the company. Be open to possibilities (and people) who knock on your doors
“Our summer intern was our first hire, and she actually reached out to us. Being open to things have led us to many opportunities including this. We made room in our budget and we knew that this is exactly what we should be spending our money on”
…You need to be prepared to take in good opportunities. We’ve had a lot of wonderful things happen to us through serendipity”
Meg’s advice to women who want to build businesses on their own terms
“Jump! Just jump…find a way to do it. You are never going to feel fully prepared. Validate that you are providing a solution to a problem. The fact that women only get 2% of funding is not going to change anytime soon…there will always be a barrier, so just jump!”
“Go out there and try and do it, so that we can figure out what you need to change to be able to do it. You need to give it a go”
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