Photo: Courtesy of Annie Lawless
Listen to the full episode here.
Starting a business is no easy feat. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20% of businesses fail by the first year, and 50% close by the fifth. So the odds of starting one successful business—let alone two—are stacked against you. But defying the odds is something that today’s WorkParty guest, Annie Lawless, knows a thing or two about.
In 2012, Annie launched her first company, the cold-pressed juice brand Suja Juice, which she scaled into such a success that Coca-Cola and Goldman Sachs each bought multi-million-dollar stakes (!). And now her second business, the clean beauty brand Lawless Beauty, is on a similar trajectory. The band doubled its sales as of October 2020 and is on track to double its overall sales in 2021.
In this episode of WorkParty, Jaclyn chats with Annie all about how she started her wildly successful second business, how she formulated a strategic exit strategy from her first company, and so much more! Scroll on to tune into the full episode and get a sneak peek of just a few of the many, many highlights.
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On launching a business…
“Starting a business is the most time and work-intensive endeavor you can undertake.”
On bringing in capital from outside investors…
“Once you start bringing capital in from outside investors, you also start bringing in a lot of other viewpoints, perspective, control.”
“You can get money from a lot of places, but you really want someone to understand your business and bring you the tools and resources to help take it to the next level beyond just the capital.”
On the importance of making strategic new hires…
“Finding those key great people is one of the hardest things about having and scaling a business.”
On the challenges of being an entrepreneur…
“There are going to be some really high highs and really low lows of being an entrepreneur, so you need to trust that everything is going to work.”
On pushing through the hard times…
“On the other side of the hard times is going to be such a big reward for what you've created if you really weather the storms.”
On the best career advice she’s ever received…
“Don't sit on the sidelines of life. You have to get off the bench and play in order to potentially win.”
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