This episode offers valuable insights for ecommerce entrepreneurs on the importance of hands-on selling in the early stages of a business. Laurie O'Hara, founder of OLITA, shares her journey of building a successful sun care brand by personally engaging with customers and understanding their needs, advocating for direct sales over immediate reliance on paid acquisition.
Laurie O’Hara is the Founder and CEO of OLITA, a San Rafael, CA based brand of eco-friendly, healthy sun care. In the market since 2015, Laurie has grown OLITA from its original Beach Be Gone product line, expanding to REEF SAFE mineral sunscreens, soothing SPF lip balms and nourishing After Sun body serums. OLITA’s mission is to create clean products that are safe on skin and safe on the planet. Prior to launching OLITA, Laurie had over 20 years experience in marketing and acquisitions of credit products and microloans, having worked as a Director for JPMorgan Chase and Citibank in New York City and a Bay Area CDFI. She holds an MBA from the American Graduate School of International Management and a BA from the University of Colorado. Laurie lives with her husband and four children in Marin County. In This Conversation We Discuss: [00:00] Intro[01:16] OLITA’s product assortment[02:04] Where OLITA’s idea came from[04:03] How long from OLITA’s inception to selling[06:46] OLITA’s go-to-market strategy[08:01] Establishing B2B relationships[08:57] From beach-side stores to D2C[10:10] Why won’t a startup hire experts from the start?[12:13] Paid is expensive, sell products yourself[12:59] OLITA’s customers are their perfect demographic[14:34] Loved ones won’t give you good feedback[16:01] Start early and delegate early[16:50] Work with performance-based partners[17:58] Laurie loves going to trade shows[18:40] Make sure invest pays for itself[19:22] The sign of a great entrepreneur[19:30] Sponsor: Electric Eye https://electriceye.io[19:50] Sponsor: Mesa https://apps.shopify.com/mesa[20:34] Sponsor: Gorgias <a