Building a successful beauty brand (or any brand)… Janet Gurwitch, Operating Partner of Castanea Partners (a Boston-based middle-market, consumer-focused private equity firm), joins Karen Moon and Regina Gwynn in New York at the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.In this episode: Gurwitch reveals some strategies in successful brand building and investing – one must “drink the Kool-Aid”, look for differentiated product, get along with the entrepreneurs, and believe together in the ability to build a large global business How Gurwitch has never had brands not successful, but has of course had periods when they not successful, usually logistics issues, an inability to get the product out Success stories of, and Gurwitch’s involvement with, Tatcha, Dollar Shave Club, Drybar How Castanea is helping brands get access to logistic resources, and how they bring a lot along with money How the changes in the landscape of the beauty industry are changing how Castanea chooses to invest Understanding a brand, each with a distinctive voice and brand DNA, new ideas, the importance of brands having a point of difference that resonates with a great products, and are well marketed (with a great illustration of the story of Drybar) The stories of Dollar Shave Club (with a matching subscription with product), and First Aid Beauty (opening price point at Sephora to fill a white space) Making the Laura Mercier brand a success, the story in building that brand Gurwitch’s dream to be first woman CEO of Neiman Marcus, and making it to EVP and then leaving to pursue her own brand Meeting Bobbi Brown, and how Gurwitch couldn’t get over how beauty industry was changing, so she tossed aside a wonderful corporate life , found Laura Mercier, licensed her name, and built a brand around the flawless face, great foundations, techniques, primers, and the moment of the ask for Mercier to lend her name on a brand Gurwitch owned The importance of being willing to find the right group of people, and take risks Why Gurwitch accepted Neiman Marcus group to invest in her company, how it impacted the sales How Gurwitch undervalued packaging and learned later the major importance and impact of the right packaging Young companies vs. small companies What has made beauty more accessible Being from the South Winning the World Series with the Houston Astros (as a member of the Board), and going from being the worst team in baseball to winning the World Series, as a great example of rebuilding a brand The post 037 – Janet Gurwitch of Castanea Partners – Winning at Beauty, Business and Baseball appeared first on Beauty Is Your Business.