Podcast 157: From bootstrapping to award-winning beauty brand

It has been a while since the podcast has featured a Formula Botanica graduate brand, and with well over 300 incredible founders and successful beauty brands featured in our online gallery, the decision about whom to approach wasn’t easy. But, one name popped up time and again – Roshanne Dorsett, graduate of the International Organic Skincare Entrepreneur Program, and founder of The Glowcery.

Roshanne has achieved incredible heights for her brand in just three years, having launched The Glowcery, a superfood, natural and sustainable skincare brand, in spring 2020 just before the Covid-19 lockdowns. In this interview, you will hear of the amazing, inspiring personal transformation that Roshanne went through in starting her gorgeous and multi-award-winning beauty brand.

But, what are really fascinating are her insights as a new, beauty entrepreneur; how she overcame challenges, bootstrapped her business, grew in confidence and now has plans to take The Glowcery international and develop it as a lifestyle brand. If you are thinking of beauty entrepreneurship, this episode is a must-listen because Roshanne drops some mindset bombs that you need to hear. So plug in your earbuds and settle in for a fantastic episode, that, dare we say it, could change your life.

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Meet @FormulaBotanica graduate Roshanne Dorsett, founder of award-winning beauty brand @TheGlowceryShop. Pick up tips to help you start your own indie beauty journey. #indiebeauty #startabeautybusiness #naturalformulation Click To Tweet

In this episode with Roshanne Dorsett, founder of The Glowcery, you will hear:

• How Roshanne went from DIY online recipe follower and frustrated beauty consumer to working by day and studying her Formula Botanica courses at night to launching a beauty business in six months. It is do-able!
• Roshanne talks about how she bootstrapped her business on very limited funds, and set about learning how to do most tasks herself in order to save cash. We learn why she chose, however, to outsource photography and brand design to experts.
• About the importance of getting the brand name right. Roshanne explains how she came up with the The Glowcery, and how the brand name now gives her the leeway to expand into a lifestyle concept business, focusing not only on cosmetics but also on holistic wellness products and services.
• About a typical day in the life of a beauty entrepreneur, which is anything but routine. Roshanne describes her varied, fulfilling days as a solo entrepeneur, which can see her doing everything from attending events, filming social media, answering customers and, of course, formulating and packaging up orders.

Key takeouts include:

• Roshanne says it can feel overwhelming when you start your entrepreneurial journey as you are “like an octopus juggling many plates”. But, that over time you learn how to focus your energies to achieve your goals, and you become more confident and able to make the right business decisions.
• Her advice is to start small and take incremental steps. Roshanne says that by starting with a limited budget, you don’t waste cash and stay focused on what can get you over the hurdle to launching.
• Your greatest reward will come from building rapport with your community of repeat and loyal customers. Roshanne says that she feels pride in The Glowcery products helping people achieve healthy, glowing skin after many of her customers say they have spent years seeing dermatologists.
• Do not be afraid to put yourself out there and be visible as a founder-entrepreneur. Roshanne was reluctant at first to be the face of her brand but says launching in lockdown, she had no choice but to do the online marketing herself. This proved invaluable to growing her brand.

Meet our guest: Roshanne Dorsett, The Glowcery

Roshanne Dorsett, a Formula Botanica graduate, is the founder and CEO of The Glowcery, a superfood, natural and sustainable skincare brand inspired by Roshanne’s plant-based lifestyle. The Glowcery uses upcycled and cold-pressed fruit and vegetable ingredients to create nutritious skincare products that are rich in the vital vitamins your skin needs to look and feel healthy, balanced and glowing. Roshanne’s gorgeous brand has been featured all over the media and has won award after award for her formulations.

Find out more about Roshanne and The Glowcery:
The Glowcery website
Instagram: @theglowceryshop
The Glowcery in our graduate gallery.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please share, subscribe and review this episode on iTunes, Spotify or Youtube so that more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Lorraine Dallmeier is a Biologist, Chartered Environmentalist and the CEO of Formula Botanica, the award-winning online organic cosmetic science school. Read more about Lorraine and the Formula Botanica Team.