When thinking of powerful women in business, it’s often easy to forget that women are great multi-taskers! I had the pleasure of speaking with Karla Roccuzzo a Celebrity Makeup Artist, Beauty Vlogger and now E-commerce owner based in Australia. A triple threat to the e-commerce industry, with a ton of experience. Karla started paving her entrepreneurial mindset from school, even taking the risk of dropping out of university to work for a large beauty brand. From working in retail stores to working for large brands, Karla was able to quickly identify a gap in the market whilst serving customers. She quickly spotted the unhygienic routines of makeup artists re-using brushes on clients, there was no cleaning method present. This epiphany moment launched the start of the beauty brand, Kynder. With its viral brush defence formula and sensuous peached ice tea scent, the product has quickly become a makeup routine must-have.
Contents of this blog:
Background
Growing Up
Starting A Business
First Clients
Career
YouTube
From Idea To Selling
Challenges
Inspirations
Present Moment
Morning Routine
Scaling
Key Tip To Get Started
Speaker 2 (00:00)
My first question to you, Karla, what was your dream job growing up?
Speaker 1 (00:10)
You know what? It’s actually so interesting because my dream job was actually criminal justice and psychology. I started out at Uni studying it. It was interesting because when I was at Uni, I needed a part-time job. I started working at a chemist and tI would be asked all sorts of questions like, Oh, what Maybelline Foundation is good, and people needed all this makeup help. I used to look at them gobsmacked like, I need just as much help as you do. I thought to myself one day, You know what? I’m going to do a makeup course just to, I guess, for my own knowledge. One thing led to another and I became totally in love with it. I actually left Uni and I got a job at Napoleon Perdis. It was like, I’m not sure if you know about it over in the UK, but it was a pretty big brand in Australia at the time. I got a job there and it just went as like a snowball effect. I just kept building up and building up and I was like, Okay, no more uni. It looks like I’m going to be a makeup artist.
Speaker 1 (01:19)
That was actually the plan. Well, now, 12 years ago, 13 years ago.
Speaker 2 (01:27)
Did you drop out of Uni or did you complete a Uni course?
Speaker 1 (01:33)
I dropped out. I was like, I kept getting these amazing opportunities with Napoleon. They would say, Oh, you can go and learn the runway looks. I was like, Oh, okay, I’ll just take uni off that day.
Speaker 2 (01:47)
Brilliant. What made you go from, I guess, working in retail to building your own business?
Speaker 1 (01:58
Yeah. Back in those days, and I feel like we really have to thank the Kardashians for this, back in the day, there weren’t a lot of freelance makeup artists. Even when we were doing clients from Napoleon, it was always just they were going to a really special occasion, like a wedding. It wasn’t really a thing where there were freelance makeup artists. But I suppose as time went on makeup just became so much more bigger and interesting and everyone wanted to have contour because the Kardashians came out with these amazing glands. I slowly started to build up a little bit more of a clientele outside of Napoleon. I started working with my sister where she would do the hair and I’d do the makeup. It was a slow growth, but fast at the same time. Then just eventually built up our names and then our Instagrams, and here we are.
Speaker 2 (03:04)
That’s brilliant. So how did you get your first clients when you first started?
Speaker 1 (03:11)
We got our first clients. How did we get our first clients? I think someone I had done at Napoleon was getting married and then their friend was getting married, and then their friend was getting married. It went from like, Oh, I’ve got three clients this week to, I’ve got five clients next week, and then I was booked out kind of thing. It was, I would say, definitely the help of Instagram, but also word of mouth back in the day.
Speaker 2 (03:43)
How many clients would you say you’re seeing on a weekly basis than you first started?
Speaker 1 (03:49)
I used to get so excited when I had three. Then it went up. Then obviously, it’s really just every week is so different. Now, sometimes we do 30 clients in a week.
Speaker 2 (04:07)
You’ve got a team, I believe. Is that right?
Speaker 1 (04:10)
I do. I’ve expanded now. We work out of Gabby’s salon. I have a team of four other girls that work with me. We specialise in obviously bridal, photoshoots, and then special occasions. But I was lucky enough to be able to extend the brand, so I do have four other girls that work for me.
Speaker 2 (04:34)
That’s really good. You’ve scaled quite quickly in that sense. You’ve been doing YouTube for about six years, I believe now. How would you say your videos have evolved?
Speaker 1 (04:50)
You have to move with the trends. I really believe in hosting really trending looks. I feel like now it’s all about those really beautiful, mat, timeless, very pulled-back makeup. I feel like growing with your videos and growing with your audience is about keeping up with those trends and posting what people are interested in and their reactions. I feel like that’s probably a huge one.
Speaker 2 (05:17)
How long would you say it took for… You have the idea for brush defect. How long would you say it took from that idea coming into your mind to then selling the product?
Speaker 1 (05:34)
It was about five years, believe it or not. I remember being backstage in Milan at Fashion Week with Versace. I was watching all of these beautiful models get their makeup done. I saw Kendall, Jenna, I saw Bella Hadid, Candace, Swainer, Paul, and all lined up and they’re getting their makeup done. I was like, There’s no brush cleanup. I was thinking to myself like, it’s so important to clean your brushes. It’s such a huge reason why people break out. They don’t know why. Bacteria just breeds so often on your brushes. It was like five years where I used to love my kit, smelling of all obviously nice, fresh, different scents. I wanted to incorporate, I remember I’d do bridal and I’d put some lavender oil in my brush cleaner. It was quite a calming environment. Just slowly, slowly, I was like, I think there’s something missing in the market that I need to bring out, but I also need to use my YouTubing skills or my makeup artist skills to educate people on how important it actually is.
Speaker 2 (06:59)
Well, it’s so funny you say that because I was speaking to a friend recently and she said one of the downsides of when she gets her makeup done was they share the brushes and she doesn’t know how clean the brushes are. That was her biggest worry. It’s great that you spotted that gap in the market and were able to create a product. Thank you. All that and it smells great as well. That’s a plus.
Speaker 1 (07:21)
Thank you. Yeah, well, that’s a crazy thing because you’re just like… I remember my friend was like to me, I’ve gotten all these facials. She was getting married. She spent hundreds of dollars. She’s got all these facials and she just could not work out why her skin would never clear up. Then I was like to her, Hold on a second. You work at the bank five days a week. You’re putting on makeup at least five times a week. She’s like, Yeah. I was like, Do you clean your brush? Didn’t know. I was like, Okay. You’re literally putting it back on your face every day. People go out and they spend all this money on this beautiful skincare or these beautiful brushes, and then they don’t clean them. It’s like, Well, how are they going to perform as good as you need them to?
Australia's Beauty Brand Entrepreneur
Karla Roccuzzo a Celebrity Makeup Artist, Beauty Vlogger and now E-commerce owner
Credit: Instagram
Speaker 2 (08:03)
You’ve had your career for quite a long period of time now. What would you say was the most challenging time during your career and how did you get through it? I think.
Speaker 1 (08:18)
Probably the most challenging for us, and I feel like this is like anyone at the moment, COVID was really hard for any service businesses. We weren’t really able to work properly for two years. With the delays in my shipments, because that’s really when I had launched my product, that was so difficult because I didn’t have my usual makeup services to fall back on. I had just invested all of this money in bringing out a product. It was quite a stressful time. I think honestly, we probably just got through it how anyone got through COVID. It’s just patience, time, believing in your product and knowing that when we do come back, we can come back 10 times better. I think probably in the last five years, that’s definitely been the hardest part to… I feel like still so many businesses are recovering.
Speaker 2 (09:21)
Yeah, definitely. It’s great that you got through it. I think a lot of businesses struggled with that period of time. Okay. Just to ask you a slightly more personal question, what are some women figures that you look up to and why?
Speaker 1 (09:43)
Would you say women figures?
Speaker 2 (09:45)
Women figures? Anyone that you may look up to or idolise, perhaps?
Speaker 1 (09:51)
Yeah, I suppose I absolutely loved seeing Pat McGrath work backstage in Milan for the Versace show. Seeing her work and assisting her, essentially, in the look that she was doing and taking notes and all that stuff for my blog, I was really inspired by the fact that she’s done over 300 Vogue covers, but was still a working makeup artist. I felt like that was something that really I could take away from because I think that sometimes it doesn’t matter how you grow or where you get to. Always keeping your skill and always going back to being able to do someone’s makeup and tap into their emotional layer and feel great is so important, especially because I think sometimes if you move away from that, you move away from how emotional makeup can be. I think that it doesn’t matter where I go, I’ll always still be a makeup artist, like a working makeup artist, because I feel like that keeps you in touch with so much of this industry, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (11:17)
Great. It’s great that you work quite closely with her as well. I get a lot of people look up to Sam and Bee and they’ll probably just see them on TV or on a computer, but you were able to work quite closely, which is great.
Speaker 1 (11:33)
I know it was amazing, three days. I was like, I didn’t sleep for three days. Then I came back to Australia and I was like, Whoa, what just happened? But yeah, it was about… That was 2019 now, so a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2 (11:46)
Okay, just before COVID.
Speaker 1 (11:49)
Yeah, just before COVID.
Speaker 2 (11:50)
I know that you’re pregnant at the moment, but what is your typical morning routine? What does it look like?
Speaker 1 (11:59)
Well, I have the worst pregnant insomnia, so it starts pretty early. But a typical day would probably be obviously going through all of our emails for both kinder and the salon, then delegating obviously to the staff members and what’s required of them for that day. I’d probably, I think at some stage try and get some good breakfast in. If I can take the dog for a walk, I try and do that. But generally speaking, that’s how the morning goes. Then I go into the office and I just obviously do the rest of our admin work and do some filming if I can in the afternoon to try and keep my socials updated. But that’s probably a typical Monday, Tuesday in my life.
Speaker 2 (12:55)
What time would you say your day usually starts?
Speaker 1 (12:59)
Seven.
Speaker 2 (13:00)
Seven. Perfect.
Speaker 1 (13:02)
Well, right the moment, like five. I try and keep my emails just on a draft so people don’t think I’m crazy.
Speaker 2 (13:12)
I’m sure it will change once the baby arrives as well. You’ll have a new morning routine to look forward to. You have a team of makeup artists. What are your plans to scale in the future?
Speaker 1 (13:26)
My plans would be to continue to grow that team and to almost be like an agency of makeup artists, just to continue the brand name and obviously continue to grow. I love having a team because I feel like we changed the way people get their makeup done at a wedding. I’m sure you would have experienced this at some stage, but usually with wedding makeup, the makeup artist has to start at five o’clock in the morning if they need it, we’ll be ready by a certain time. Whereas when I go out with my team, I can do three people at once. Because if I’m with myself and two of my staff members, we’re working on three at one. What we’re actually doing is creating a much more of a smoother morning for the bride. Instead of starting at 5:00, we can start at 8:00. Everyone just gets done a lot more efficiently and the makeup is fresher for longer. I love that we’ve changed the way that getting your makeup done for a wedding is now. I would love to obviously grow that in the future and be known as obviously more of an agency of makeup rather than just me as a person.
Speaker 2 (14:49)
Definitely. What would you say is your target number, say, within the next 2-3 years of makeup artists within your team?
Speaker 1 (15:03)
That’s a hard one. I don’t know. I’m not sure I can put a number on it, only because quality over quantity.
Speaker 1 (15:11)
I’m going to say… I’m going to say numbers are too hard. Just quality over quantity is the most that matters to me. Whatever that means for the business.
Speaker 2 (15:25)
How did you find your first makeup artist for your team?
Speaker 1 (15:29)
I actually found my first one because she reached out to me and just asked me if I needed any help. I stayed with the same one for two or three years, and then she moved to Europe. I was like, I think I have to actually properly hire someone. I put out an ad on my Instagram. Then I just got some resumes. Then I went into training with someone for a couple of months and then just started bringing her out with me. I was like, Hold on a second. I feel like we can really do this. In a way, losing my assistant when she moved to Europe was such a big thing for the brand because it forced me into a space of being like, Okay, we actually need to do this properly. Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (16:21)
Then you put the ads out. Would you say you’d use the methods of ad reach on Instagram to try hire make up assistants in the future?
Speaker 1 (16:34)
Yeah, definitely.
Kynder
Karla spotted a gap in the market and quickly produced her brush defence formula in Peached Iced Tea
Credit: kynder.com.au
Speaker 2 (16:36)
What would you say is your key tip for someone aiming to get their first clients?
Speaker 1 (16:45)
My tip is to, as much as you need to obviously showcase your work through socials, whether that be Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, I think that they’re all great avenues to showcase your work. But I really do still believe that the most important thing that you can do when you’re trying to get a client is that word of mouth. Like word of mouth will still be so important. I think that it’s great if you can be known as someone that is reliable, that’s humble, that’s on time, and just trustworthy. I think that’s the most important thing. As much as you need to showcase your work online, you also need to make sure that whoever you are dealing with, you’re dealing with them in a very professional manner, and I think that that will ultimately grow your business.
Speaker 2 (17:38)
Currently, what would you say are the challenges you’re facing as an e-commerce brand owner? With selling your brush cleaners, would you say there are any issues with stock or maybe perhaps with where you’re sourcing your products from?
Speaker 1 (17:58)
Yeah, I think anyone in ecomm will tell you that the hardest thing in ecomm is shipments and delays. It is the hardest thing. It doesn’t matter what. We manufacture everything here in Australia, but we still get our packaging offshore. Sometimes, oh, my God. To tell you recently, so before we did our rebrand, I was waiting for our boxes for over six months. They had just gotten lost in the sea shipment. It was coming on a boat. Then they were in an undisclosed location that we could not find. You spend all this money on these products, essentially, and you just don’t know when they’re actually going to come. They can give you an estimated time, but you are dealing with the hands of so many other people by the time that they do to you. I had all these beautiful candles that were filled up with no boxes to put them in for six months. We were like, Oh, my God, it was crazy. I didn’t know what to do. But finally, with the help of I had to obviously get third parties involved. We were able to locate them and get our hands on them, which was amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:20)
I think that definitely, a challenge that you face in e-commerce is that you are not the one who is able to handle absolutely everything in a small business. You have to rely on others. Unfortunately, sometimes there are just so many delays or things can change and you need to fix them. It’s not easy.
Speaker 2 (19:43)
Where do you feel you spend the most time in your e-commerce brand, would you say it might be customer service or perhaps the shipment side of things? Where would you say you focus more of your attention on?
Speaker 1 (19:57)
A lot of my attention goes into product development. I love that. I’m super passionate about it. I do a lot of product development. I do a little bit of everything, that’s probably where I feel my strengths are. Then I focus obviously on marketing the product and talking about the product with my audience. Yeah, that’s probably where I’d say I spend the most time.
Speaker 2 (20:24)
Where do you feel you would like more help on, in which area would you say?
Speaker 1 (20:29)
I think for small businesses, you definitely manufacturing. I think importing and exporting is where you definitely need a bit of help.
Speaker 2 (20:49)
Is that because of the shipment delays that you experienced and having to get the third parties involved and having to source those people to locate the shipment?
Speaker 1 (21:01)
Absolutely. I think that if you’re going to compare to, say, for example, you’ve got huge brands in the UK. Say, you’ve got your Harold’s and you’ve got your Ted London, for example, you’ve got massive brands like that. It’s really hard as a small business because your quantities are not the same as someone like that. You might be like, It means so much to you, but to suppliers or to shipments, it’s like, Oh, it’s not that many. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, I think definitely being a small business, you’re up against massive businesses who generally always take priority on those things. It’s harder to be noticed and it’s harder to get the help.
Speaker 2 (21:48)
Great. Okay. I just want to ask more around the product development stage that you focus a lot of your time on. What would you say that entails? What exactly is involved in that product development process?
Speaker 1 (22:03)
Yeah, well, before you actually bring out a product, there’s so much trialling that you need to do. For example, with our brush defence, it was like, Okay, well, what formula do we want to go for? We know that there’s other brush cleaners on the market, but why are they pushed to the side? Most of the time it doesn’t smell that great, so it’s like, okay, we’ve got to get the right fragrance that people are going to like that isn’t going to irritate their skin. It’s going to sell quite well. It’s going to continue to sell. Before you actually are able to get the final product, you need to trial and error for a few months on end. You need to actually show people who would be using the product. For me, I hand it out to a lot of friends or some clients. I see what they think. Your packaging, you need to make sure that it’s… Can it go on a shelf? How long does it last for? In what temperature can it last for? I think probably if I’m saying off the top of my head, if you are thinking about a product to when you actually have the product in your hand ready to sell, you’re probably looking at at least a year.
Speaker 2 (23:21)
Okay, one year for the product development stage. Great. Carla, that’s all the questions I have for you. I know we’ve overrun, but thank you so much for allowing me to ask you these questions and for your time. I know you’re very busy, so I do appreciate it. I hope that we can stay in contact. I’d love to be updated on any more new products that you have. I’d love to hear about your growth of your agency as well. I think it would be something to definitely hear about for the future.
Speaker 1 (23:56)
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (23:58)
Thank you.