Every year, Entrepreneur selects 100 Women of Influence making strides in innovation, culture, and equity. Alongside beauty industry tycoons like Jennifer Lopez and Nicola Kilner of Deciem, Landing International founder and CEO Sarah Chung Park was recognized for her work helping small, diverse beauty and wellness brands succeed at retail.
In the feature, Sarah recalls her experience as a first-time entrepreneur, and the lessons she learned along the way.
“In my first entrepreneurial attempt, I was really bad at sales. I reached out to a female founder of a tech startup for an informational interview, told her I was bad at sales, and asked if I should find someone else to do it. She quickly but firmly told me that the job of the CEO is to sell — to customers, to investors, to employees. She then said, ‘I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t be able to sell. You seem competent and articulate.’ In my 10 years at Landing, I still think about her advice every day. Selling is about communicating your belief in yourself, your team, and what you’re building together. When you reframe it this way, it suddenly becomes more natural and less scary.”
This year, Sarah launched BeautyFluent, a first-of-its-kind education and community-building app designed to make retail training more effective & empowering for retailers, brands, and beauty advisors. BeautyFluent makes it easier and more affordable for gender-inclusive, female-owned and minority-owned brands to connect directly with the beauty advisors who interact with their customers every day at retailers like Ulta and JCPenney. By using technology to make retail training more affordable for smaller brands and more empowering for beauty advisors, BeautyFluent ensures a future where everyone sees themselves reflected in the brands available in stores.
To learn more about how BeautyFluent can help your brand succeed at retail, get in touch with our team.