Lawyer, Investor, Founder: Reinventing Success with Jackie Kim of Maelove Skincare

Season 1 Episode 5

Lawyer, Investor, Founder: Reinventing Success with Jackie Kim of Maelove Skincare

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Emily Jean (00:00)

Hi everyone, welcome to or welcome back to Founders Club. I'm your host, Emily Jean. And for today's episode, I'm gonna be sitting down with Jackie Kim, the founder of Maelove Skincare. And you guys, you have to believe me when I say this story is a special one, especially if you're a skincare fanatic. Jackie's journey is really anything but traditional. So she originally started her career as an attorney in New York.

and then pivoted into startup investing with a focus on hospitality and consumer goods,

and then followed her lifelong passion into the world of skincare. After investing in a men's skincare line, Jackie found herself thinking, why isn't there a brand that does for women what this line is doing for men? And so, Maelove was born. Maelove launched in 2017 with their now iconic Glow Maker antioxidant serum.

You guys will hear how much has gone into that product specifically, but that serum is really a cult favorite. And since then, Maelove has built a reputation for amazing formulated skincare that delivers results without the luxury price tag.

What makes Jackie's story especially compelling is not just her pivot from law to skincare, but how much care and thought goes into every step of the Maelove process, all the way from really rigorous ingredient research to small batch production and a genuine obsession with customer feedback. Jackie calls herself the chief product obsessor, which I love.

but I really want to point out it's not just a title. It's so clear in this episode and it really is how she runs her business. anyways, I'm really excited for you guys to listen to this episode, but as always, if you are enjoying this podcast, please feel free to rate and review us on Spotify or Apple,

Wherever you get your podcasts, You can also follow me on Instagram at Emily.jeans or you can visit us at www.livegooddigital.com to learn more about the podcast and what we do. So let's dive in. Here is Jackie Kim from Maelove.

Emily (02:10)

Okay, Jackie Kim, welcome to the podcast. I am so grateful you're joining us today.

I am so excited for everybody to hear about this brand. I personally, find the website itself and the brands and the products are amazing, but I actually have been obsessed with the Instagram for such a long time. I think you guys do such a good job of curating a community around skincare and I really appreciate that. So I'm really excited to have you on and why don't you just kind of give a little

background about yourself in your own words.

Jackie Kim (02:45)

Sure, well thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here today. And just for everyone to know, my name is Jackie and I am the co-founder and CEO, but more notably known as the Chief Product Obsessor of Maelove. Maelove is a direct-to-consumer skincare brand that obsessively formulates skincare products like your serums and creams for all stages of aging.

but in particular focusing on women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond.

Emily (03:20)

I love that spiel. That is like such a good, perfect, I know you've like, I'm sure you've like fine tuned that over the years. And so I really, it always makes me happy when I hear like the perfect sound bite like that.

So obviously your career path is really fascinating. You've gone from attorney to investor to skincare entrepreneur. Can you walk us a little bit through that journey? mean, that's a big, I know that's a big, a lot of ground to cover, but let's start all the way from the beginning. So you went to law school, is that correct?

Jackie Kim (03:55)

Yes, so I started out in New York as an attorney. I call it in my former life, I was an attorney. Then I was a startup investor for a little bit. And now I'm a skincare entrepreneur, as you just mentioned. And it's really, I guess, not a traditional path, probably that a lot of beauty founders take.

But for me, I was deeply unhappy as an attorney and I just knew, I just had this gut feeling that this was not what I was supposed to be doing for the rest of my life and not something that it was meant to be doing. So I got into startup investing and one of the brands that I invested in was a men's skin care line based in Silicon Valley called Mavericks.

And Mavericks just really sparked this idea and really brought out this passion that I've had around skincare. For me, some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around skincare. I remember my mom having this gorgeous long marble vanity and on top of it, she had these

perfectly placed potions as I called it and there were her serums and creams and all of her skincare products and she would place me on top and I would watch her daily in awe and fascination as she did her skincare routine and she says I was very curious when it came to skincare. I would ask so many questions of like what does this do? What does that do? And why do you use this and why do you use that?

and she would put some products on me and we would apply it on my face and just like giggle and have the best time together. I think with Mavericks that really brought out that obsession and love that I had with skincare from a very young age. I began becoming aware of skincare since I was like age four. That's really when I started watching my mother and my grandmother.

apply their skincare and start taking an interest. And I was very fortunate growing up to have traveled the world with them. And for us, our traveling didn't really consist too much of sightseeing or shopping. It was actually all about skincare. My grandmother always loved trying to find products that were specific to each culture.

And so she would book these appointments with these renowned spas and estheticians and my mom would follow and I would follow. And that just became a part of my childhood. so fast forward, I was invested in Mavericks and then I got to know Mavericks founder, Brad. And as I was talking to him, I was telling him my frustrations with

skincare. There's a lot of fluff. There's a lot of hype around products, but I was telling him I don't see much of the payoff that I'm looking for. And also, I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for products that I will be having to replenish every few months. And as we were talking, we both realized that we had the same long term goals. And

We seem to just have this.

I guess, attraction of wanting to create this women's skincare line. And so we decided from that night, we were having a conversation and we're like, okay, let's, let's start a women's skincare line. And that became Mayla. Fast forward eight years and that is now Mayla.

Emily (07:36)

It's amazing. And I kind of know a little bit too, but naming Maelove was a, it was a really deeply personal choice. Can you share the story behind it a little bit?

Jackie Kim (07:48)

So Maelove, we took May, which in Korean, hal-may, is like a very casual way of saying grandma. And Brad's childhood memories actually were all about watching his grandma, whom he called May, create skincare products in her own kitchen. She was doing DIY products and handing it out to her church friends and

using it on herself and he remembers that's when she was happiest and she always had a smile on her face. And so for him, that was his personal story of wanting to get into skincare because he was like, look, I'm not a woman and I'm in the woman's space. But, you know, that actually was our childhood memories for both of us was one of the reasons where we wanted to make our make it our mission to create.

luxury quality products without the luxury markups. And so we decided to take May and combine it with love to represent my love for beauty. And that's how Maelove came about.

Emily (08:50)

I love that. I love when brands have a great story behind the name. I think it makes all the difference.

It's like, you know, your foundation is kind of built on this amazing journey. And it sounds like you were always, you know, I don't want to say destined, but like skincare was always going to be a part of your life in some way, or form. And I think that's so exciting. I want to go back a little bit. So you said you went from attorney to investor. How did you kind of get started investing in skincare lines?

or just one skin care line, I guess, Mavericks. But what's the process behind that? mean, was the, how did he make that jump?

Jackie Kim (09:31)

So my brother is a startup investor as well. And so I got to know the way about through him. so we were both investing in CPG areas and I was very interested in Mavericks for personal reasons. I think I was definitely drawn because of it was skincare, although it was in the men's space, but

I was drawn to it from the beginning because it was skincare. I thought it was interesting because it was also based in Silicon Valley, which is, you know, it's more of a tech, tech booming area and not really for skincare. And I think all those aspects were why I was drawn to Mavericks. And really, I think it was like you're alluding to, it was just kind of destined for me to

create Maelove and have this brand today.

Emily (10:24)

That's great. I I think that's so interesting. I tell people a lot when I'm chatting to different founders on Founders Club.

everybody has a different path to success. Like I think we have a tendency to assume that success looks one way. It's linear, you do this, you work hard in this area and whatnot. what I've seen is that it can occur in any way. It can occur at any time. And everybody's background there, it can be hugely different. So I just love to hear about that.

So let's talk a little bit about the Maelove itself and kind of the innovation you guys have seen. So I want to make sure I have this right. You guys launched the Glowmaker serum in 2017, correct?

Jackie Kim (11:06)

Yes.

Emily (11:06)

Okay, got it. And that kind of instantly became a hit. Now, I guess I'm kind of curious, what was the vision behind this product?

Jackie Kim (11:15)

So our Glowmaker serum is our antioxidant serum, our vitamin C serum. And my vision for this product was to have a vitamin C product that addressed two pain points that I had from the typical vitamin C serums that were available at the time. The first one being the scent.

of the serum. if you know and you're used to using vitamin C serums, they typically will have this very distinct pungent hot dog scent. And unless the product has some fragrances or something added to it, you'll typically smell that hot dog scent. And I hated that smell. knew that

vitamin C serums are great for your skin. knew all the science behind it, but I was like, I don't enjoy using it. And so that was one of the reasons I wanted to create the Glow Maker. And the second reason was the issues I had with texture when it came to other vitamin C serums. typically vitamin C serums are thicker in consistency, a little bit more tacky.

And I personally wanted something that was a lot more thin and runny and water-like in consistency because I know that vitamin C serums are gonna be the first thing that you apply on your face right after cleansing. And I thought, why not make something that's just something that absorbs really quickly so that you can layer on all of your other products after? So there's no tackiness, there's no stickiness, there's no pilling.

And that's really how we went to develop the Glowmaker serum. And I really think that Glowmaker is an elevated version from your typical vitamin C serum. And that's what we've heard from our customers. yeah, vitamin, the Glowmaker vitamin C serum became a hit. It is still one of our best selling products to date. And

I believe we shipped over probably almost a million or over a million glow makers since we began in 2017.

Emily (13:23)

That's amazing. I'm sure that feels so good to work so hard on the product and to see people really love it. It's amazing. Okay, so yeah. Your brand is really known for high quality formulations at an accessible price. I know the Glow Maker Serum definitely falls into that. How have you been able to achieve that balance so far?

Jackie Kim (13:30)

Yeah, it's very exciting.

So we run our business probably quite differently from a typical beauty brand. One of the reasons I say that is we don't have a separate marketing or social team, which seems fairly unique. And we have a very lean team. And so we all wear multiple hats. And we always, always think in the perspective of a consumer. That's where we start anything we do.

is in the eyes of a consumer, whether it's from the formulation process to even shipping out our packages to how much we email our customers, et cetera. And second, a majority of our marketing is done thanks to our Maelove family, our customers. And so we're fortunately able to spend less on marketing.

and really judiciously decide where to spend our money on. And so we've really been growing throughout the years through word of mouth. And those are the reasons why we're able to achieve this balance of having really high quality formulations that go toe to toe with some of the most luxurious, well-known products out there, but keep it at a fraction of the cost.

Emily (14:57)

And I love what you just said there about your consumers are kind of a big part of the marketing aspect for you. guys been able to build that brand trust and loyalty, that community?

Jackie Kim (15:11)

That's a great question. So I mean, it definitely took time. It's not like it happened instantly overnight. It took time, but I think one aspect is as a team, we start off with the assumption that consumers are smart. They're very smart. They have access to all the information out there. This is, know, skincare consumers. This is a different.

era than when my mother and my grandmother were shopping for skincare products 30, 40 years ago. And so we start off with the assumption that consumers are very intelligent. And we just want to be as transparent as possible of what we're offering and what we're doing. And because of that, I think there's different layers to it. But because we start off from that assumption,

We've been able to grow as a skincare brand that's trusted, that consumers rely on. And they end up coming for us to tell us what products that they want next from us, which has been very exciting. And our consumers are the ones who really drive what products we're going to launch next.

Emily (16:20)

I was gonna say, I know that My Love is known for its kind of amazing customer service. What's been your approach to customer service, customer feedback, and how has that shaped the product so far?

Jackie Kim (16:32)

So thank you so much for saying that about our customer service. I'm very proud to have a great customer service team and hopefully provide the best customer service experience to anyone that comes in contact with Maelove because from day one of Maelove, it was all about the customers. And so I was very adamant and we still continue to be today on how can we provide the best

customer experience and we're fortunate to able to connect with our customers directly since we're direct to consumer brand. And that's really a privilege that I don't take for granted. We have customers emailing us all the time. They tell us about their entire skincare experience and what their pain points are that they like help with, what products they currently use from us that they love and what would they like to see us.

make next and so much more. And we are able to really have these genuine, authentic relationships with our customers. And that's why our customers dictate what products that we're going to launch next. And they all end up being part of our Mayla family.

Emily (17:46)

So I guess because we're talking about, you know, product development, what does the product development process look like for you as a CEO from start to finish?

Jackie Kim (17:56)

So our motto is obsessively formulated and we are obsessive from start to finish. And so first, the requirement is that we work with some of the top most respected cosmetic laboratories here in the US because all of our made love products are made here in the US. And our development process first starts with identifying ingredients we want to use that are based on science.

So no fluff or flavor of the month ingredients as I like to call it. And so for us, we have our own internal scoring system for what ingredients we're going to use. And it's basically like a scorecard that we've created. And we rank whether the ingredients have been published in credible articles, whether they've been shown to have a robust effect in peer reviewed studies.

whether they've been tested on a large number of human subjects, et cetera. And so after we identified the active ingredients we're going to use, we then further refine our formulations using insights from leading practitioners in clinical medicine and estheticians. And this is where we actually try to optimize for great texture and feel. And I would say for

probably like 90 % of our Maelove products, we spend about six to eight months alone at this step because I'm an obsessive skincare consumer myself. And I know in the past that there were many great products that I've tried to use consistently, but I couldn't for whatever reason, either I didn't like the scent, I didn't like the texture, I didn't like how it really worked with the other products I were using.

And so whatever the reason was, I would always push those products aside on my bathroom counter. And then if I'm not using them consistently, then I'm not going to reap the benefits and achieve the kind of skin that I wanted. And so looking back at my own experience as an obsessive skincare consumer, I knew that this is where we would shine, where we would have to optimize for great texture and feel.

so that consumers would love using the products and they would actually enjoy it. And then they would comply with their recommendation and be able to stick with a healthy skincare routine for the long run and really achieve long-term skin benefits. And so after that process, for us, not only is our formulation process really important, but we're obsessive about quality.

That's why, as I mentioned, we partner with some of the best, most respected cosmetic labs. But we also work with shipping facilities that are FDA registered. They're actually food grade storage facilities with temperature controlled staging areas and refrigerated lockers to ensure maximum freshness for our products. And so it's actually very unusual for Beauty Brand to be working with some of the facilities that we do.

But we continue to do that because we want our products being the best condition when they ship out and it reaches a customer's doorstep. So we still continue to make all of our products in small batches so they are fresh as possible and the best when they reach your doorstep.

Emily (21:18)

I love that. I love that commitment to quality in every step of the process. think that's amazing.

Okay. So, obviously, starting a skincare brand from scratch is no small feat. What were some of the biggest challenges in the early days?

Jackie Kim (21:35)

So some of the challenges was first and foremost was finding and working with the best cosmetic labs. My husband luckily had some great industry contacts from his Mavericks days that were helpful, but really there's like no yelp for best suppliers and labs in the cosmetic industry. So you really have to figure out and do some investigation on your own.

And then you also sign NDAs as well when you work with these labs. So for me, I was very adamant on working with these labs because as I got to learn more about these cosmetic labs, I learned that there's a varying degree in their processes and standards. And so

there's good labs and there's not so good labs and they really vary in range. And so I was adamant about working. had a list of labs that I wanted to go after and I was adamant that we had to work with at least some of them to get started or Maelove wasn't going to happen because I was like, I, first and foremost, need to love the products that I'm using and I can probably share with my family and friends and

to everyone else who purchases from us. So that was really one of the biggest challenges for us when we first started. And I would say after that, it was trying to gain some traction. We are a family run business. We don't have outside funding. I've purposely decided from day one that we were not going to take outside funding and we continue to.

have Maelove as a family business. And it's hard. It's hard really to start. And especially because I'm not from the beauty industry, it was hard trying to gain some momentum in the beginning. And so it was trying to figure out how are we gonna talk to editors? How are we gonna talk to content creators? And what kind of messaging we're going to work with?

what seems to resonate with people and then also figuring out for us what are our customers saying about our products, know. What did they love? What did they dislike? And all those aspects and trying to, in the meantime, still create new products was the biggest challenge.

Emily (23:58)

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently in launching and scaling, Maelove?

Jackie Kim (24:04)

So looking back, something that was painful back then was that we underestimated, we actually heavily underestimated our demand of Glowmaker. And so we were sold out, I believe this was 2018, we were sold out for almost a full year in 2018 of the Glowmaker. I think we were in stock for something like 10 or 20 days of the entire year. And our wait list,

was in the tens of thousands and it just kept growing. And so this inadvertently helped build up the viral demand of the product, but it was unintentionally done. And so for me, looking back, I would have taken a much bigger risk and ordered a lot more inventory at the time. And at that time I thought I was, you know, each time we were placing much larger POs.

for this product, but we just were not aware of how much the customers were waiting for this product and wanting it.

Emily (25:04)

What a good problem to have, am I right? I love that.

Jackie Kim (25:09)

Exactly, yes. A problem nonetheless, but a good problem.

Emily (25:11)

Okay,

well, let's talk a little bit about skincare and I think honestly these questions are more for me. I think the audience will enjoy this too, but what are the top three things people should be looking for on a good product? Because I feel like choosing the right skincare right now can be super overwhelming.

Jackie Kim (25:34)

You're right. It's very overwhelming. And as much as we have access to all this great information online, it is very overwhelming.

so the top three things that I would look for that I would personally look for in a good skincare product is first the ingredient list. I would look at it for effective ingredients like actives and actives are your vitamin C.

your acids like glycolic acid and lactic acid, your retinols and retinals. And I would look for these ingredients because these are the ones that will be working for your skin in the long run, besides just being a great product to apply. And I say this because I see a lot more skincare products popping up nowadays that feel really great when you immediately apply it, but

I would that it has a lot of quote unquote filler ingredients where it's just great for that moment, but is it really doing something for your skin in the long run? It's kind of hard to say. So that's why I would look at the ingredient list and make sure it has some actives in there. And second, I would advise not to buy a product just because it's trendy or popular. I think you have to really decide if it's the right product for you. And

That entails deciding what kind of skin type do you have? You know, do you have sensitive skin or can your skin really tolerate pretty much anything? And so I would consider these things first. And the third part would be to do some research into the actual brand that you're buying and not just the product and see is this brand legit? And I say this because I've noticed some skincare brands on Amazon and in general elsewhere.

that I personally would never purchase myself. And the reason is if I can't find any information anywhere about the brand, then it's hard to verify if they seem to be working with great labs or if this is even created in a lab or if this is created in some, some big kitchen, you know, where I don't know. I don't know if I'd be able to trust, know, that they're actually using the ingredients that they say they are and the percentages that they are.

all these things. so those are really some of the top three things I would look for. And then after that, if you purchase a product, my skincare preach is to give the product a try for at least 30, 60, 90 days, you know, really use the product consistently day in and day out and see if it's doing anything for you because

Skincare is not plastic surgery. Most products, as much as we want overnight results, like yes, immediately overnight, we might feel the skin feeling a little bit more hydrated or just looking better or glowing. But in general, skincare is not plastic surgery. it's hard to, it's not gonna give you the results overnight like plastic surgery. And so I always like to tell our customers to

Take some time, have a little patience, and be consistent.

Emily (28:42)

Right, right. That totally makes sense. Is there for somebody new to Maelove? What's the first product they should try?

Jackie Kim (28:50)

So going back to what we discussed earlier about why Glowmaker was our first product, I would have to say that Glowmaker, vitamin C is an ingredient that I'm sure most, if not all women know about, but it's such a universally great ingredient. It's great for almost all skin types and really has a multitude of functions and benefits and it's gonna help

with a lot of different things like help your dull skin, help brighten your skin, help smooth the skin, and even have a little bit of hydration for the skin. And so I would say the Glow Maker should be the first one. But a very close contender is our Peptide Squad Collagen Renewal Serum. And I also pointed that one because it is one of my

favorite products, but also a product that does also a multitude of things. And it's great for all skin types. It can be used while you're pregnant and breastfeeding, unlike retinols. And so I would point to the Glow Maker and then the Peptide Squad.

Emily (30:04)

I'm adding those to my cart as we speak. Okay. there one skincare myth you'd love to debunk? I feel like you've already debunked so many, but is there one in particular that this has got to go? People need to know.

Jackie Kim (30:07)

Hahaha!

Hmm. That's a good question. So I think one skincare myth to debunk is that pores can shrink in size. I've seen on TikTok, a lot of people trying out trends because they're like, I heard this can shrink your pore size to half the size and do this and that. And, and we wrote a long blog post about this. Thanks to Dr. Song, who is head of research and education here at Maelove

But to summarize the blog post is basically you can't physically reduce your pore size because that's genetically determined for you, but you can at least reduce the appearance of your pores with topical products like hydroxy acids and niacinamide. And so I think that's an important distinction to make because I've noticed that seems like a lot of people will try certain products.

because they heard this was going to shrink your pores and they inevitably get disappointed. But it's just knowing that, you can't do anything about the actual physical size, but you can at least reduce the look and appearance of it.

Emily (31:25)

Right, interesting. Now I know because I had no idea. I probably before this would have said, yeah, you can definitely shrink your

If you could collaborate with any skincare expert, scientist, or brand, who would it be and why?

Jackie Kim (31:39)

So I am personally a huge fan of Dr. Daniel Sugai, who is a dermatologist. He is one of the dermatologists on TikTok and YouTube and in general on social media who has become very well known. And he is someone who has supported us. He genuinely loves some of our products and has mentioned us, but.

I've gotten to know him a little bit on a more personal level and he's just such a great, genuine guy. He genuinely just wants to have fun and educate the consumers out there. And yeah, I love his content. I think it's very lighthearted. He makes skincare fun. And I think that's what I love about his content. It's not so serious about.

all the ingredients and this and that and I think he has a perfect mix of educating while making it fun and so I think that's someone I would choose to collaborate with if we could in the future.

Emily (32:43)

That's great. I'd love to hear that. I'll be looking forward to that collaboration. I guess then, actually looking forward, is there anything, any exciting launches or innovations coming up soon for Maelove that you want to chat about?

Jackie Kim (32:56)

yes, I am super excited for our hair care line to be launching very soon. It is going to be called full follicle shampoo and conditioner. And the scalp is really an extension of skincare, an area that we obviously know and that we love. And so I'm super excited about this launch because it has been a labor of love to say the least. And

really born out of a necessity. You first it has been at the request of our Maelove customers. They have been writing in for years asking for a high quality solution for their scalp from us, their trusted skincare brand. And so we've been collecting ideas and seeing what customers have mentioned the most. And that was one of the, Haircare was one of the

the most mentioned products and really also born out of a necessity for myself because I have been dealing with my own dry flakes and thinning hair, especially since after the birth of my daughter. And so this is something that we're super excited about. will have the shampoo will have just the right lather and just the right slip.

and the conditioner will be very hydrating but without weighing down your hair because I have very fine hair. I have a lot of hair but I have very fine hair and almost instantly any product that I try will weigh down my hair. It looks very limp and I also feel that weight. So was very adamant about working on a conditioner that would just have that perfect balance.

of being hydrating but not weighing it down. So yeah, we have Haircare launching in the next month to several months. We'll have some other products in the lineup that I'm super excited to share with everyone.

Emily (34:52)

That sounds so exciting. I can't wait to see it. I just know the results are gonna be amazing. Okay, well, I guess we can do these these last few kind of more rapid fire here. Okay, so favorite skincare ingredient. I think I know what you're gonna say, but I want to hear it anyway.

Jackie Kim (35:08)

Yes, so no mystery, it's going to be vitamin C and pep.

Emily (35:12)

Perfect answer. What has been the most rewarding moment in building Maelove?

Jackie Kim (35:14)

you

So one of my former neighbors in LA who at the time didn't know I was the founder of Maelove, her Maelove package actually accidentally got delivered to my address. so this was a moment where I was like, my God, my neighbor had ordered Maelove and I can tell she ordered several products because of the box it came in. And I...

walked over to her house and I was shyly telling her like, hey, this is my brand. And we started talking and that's how we striped a relationship and we actually became friends.

Emily (35:55)

I love that, that's amazing. What a cool story, actually. Okay, if you could create a dream skincare product, what would it be?

Jackie Kim (36:05)

So for me, I think the dream skincare product is always evolving. It was first our Moonlight Retinoldehyde Serum when we launched that and when we were in the process of creating it. And then it was Fade Away, which is our brightening serum, which I call our hyperpigmentation specialist. I suffer from hyperpigmentation and melasma. That's my personal number one skincare concern. And so when we...

created the fade away. That was my dream skincare product. And then after that was peptides was our peptide squad collagen renewal serum, something that we've been working on behind the scenes for, for a very long time. Because I knew I wanted to prep my body to get pregnant. And I also knew once I'm pregnant and also breastfeeding, I wouldn't be able to use retinols, any retinoids. And so I was like telling Dr. Song.

my God, like, what am I going to do with my face? I need something in place of retinoids. Like, what can I do? And that's how we discovered the world, the vast world of peptides. And so that was our dream skincare product then. And so, yeah, for me, it's always evolving depending on my needs, depending on what we're working on, you know, that customers want. And so it's always a work in progress.

Emily (37:25)

Sounds like the dream skincare products are already here. So if you had to recommend a book or a course or a group even possibly for entrepreneurs looking to start their business, do you have anything that you find yourself recommending in any of those areas often for people?

Jackie Kim (37:44)

So I think one thing is for that I would recommend to really reflect on yourself and see what skills that you possess that are your strong, your strong skills and what you would like to find in a counter partner or team who possess the skills that you'd like to work on. I think

Women are very passionate problem solvers and this is really needed when you're creating a company from the ground up. But I think some of us tend to overlook the finances and the operations, like how to maintain cashflow and what level of inventory to keep and how to go about the process of hiring and firing people and all that. And those are the unsexy parts to running a business.

So I would like to remind entrepreneurs to think of these issues early on instead of getting caught by surprise later as your business evolves and is taking off. So something would be a lot more self-reflection to figure out, okay, what kind of team can I have that really is a full-rounded, well-rounded team that surrounds you.

Emily (38:59)

I think that's perfect advice. think that's note to leave on as well. Jackie, thank you so much for joining me and being on the show. Where can listeners follow or find Maelove in you?

Jackie Kim (39:12)

Thank you so much for having me again. And you can find Maelove at our website, maelove.com. And also on our social platforms like Instagram and TikTok and YouTube, we are at Maelove Skincare. And a select number of our products are now actually available on Amazon. So you can find some of our products there as well.

Emily (39:36)

Okay, great. Well, perfect. Well, thank you so much again, Jackie. yeah, for everyone listening, now you know where to find Maelove. I hope you guys check them out. And I'll chat to you all in the next episode.