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Female Heroes Interview: Sian Sutherland
Every week we publish an interview with one of our female internet heroes. This is an opportunity for you to MEET interesting women, READ about their WORK, THINK about how they PLAY the internet industry and see how you MATCH them. Be inspired!This monday: Sian Sutherland.
A female entrepreneur and a mother, Sian Sutherland has combined the two to create the fast-growing skincare company Mama Mio. ”The majority of the consumers in the world are women and they know how they need to present it to other women, intuitively, because they sell it to themselves,” she says. Busy moms are her prime target and these are using the internet to buy what they need. With 30% of turnover created on the web, being online is very important to Mama Mio. Sutherland tells the nextwomen about her experiences with the company,” Money comes cheap but experience is invaluable”.
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Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I started in advertising, but after five years I left to set-up my business, a restaurant in Soho. I did the finance for it, found the staff, the chef. We won one Michelin star in the first year and the newcomer of the year award. It was an extremely useful experience for the rest of my life. The restaurant business is a very tough business. Margins are tight, emotions run high. Crazy critics, crazy margins and crazy chefs.
I left restaurant business when I was 30 to set up small focused brand creation agency, called Miller Sutherland. Mama Mio was born out of two experiences. One was brand creation in skincare. Through Miller Sutherland, we specialized in beauty and we developed a black book of biochemists and skincare scientists. We then used that when we wanted to create our own range for Mama Mio. It meant we had access to the best people with the best knowledge. The second experience was Kathy’s, our first partner Tanya’s and my experiences of becoming mothers. We realized there was nothing to help us through pregnancy and most importantly to get our bodies back and maintain them afterwards, so we created Mama Mio.
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How did you arrange financing for it?
We raised capital through Investec Bank two and a half years ago. We raised seed capital to fund our launch. Then last year , we recognised that for us to go at the speed needed, for us to own this sector of the market, we needed good boardmember experience, in particular with a US focus, and we needed more finance. The experience we were keenest to have, because to be honest, money is cheap but experience is invaluable.
We then met a gentleman called Bob Nielsen, president of Estee Lauder. He had the vision and created most of the brands that are in the Estee Lauder portefolio. Last summer, he became chairman of Mama Mio. He is not involved day to day in the business, but he mentors. He just has that crucial top-level experience in establishing a brand and growing it in the US market that we were looking for. He believed that we are the next big thing, that was enormous validation. And even more so when he put his hand in his own pocket, because he would always arrange third party finance. For him to do it personally, that was double validation.
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How big are you now?
This year, we are in our 3rd financial year. There will be turnover in excess of 3 million dollars this years, and our target is 7 million next year. 30 % turnover is through the internet.
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How have you grown over time?
Initially there was three of us, now there are fifteen across the world. We have three main offices: Los Angeles, New York and London. We are in in 700 stores, primarily in the US and the UK. But we have rolled out in other countries: Australia, New Zealand, France, Ireland, South- Africa, United Kingdom and Scandinavia. We have also just launched in Canada in 46 stores. This is our first step in positioning Mama Mio as a global business.
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Would you consider selling your company?
We have already been approached. Especially since Bob Nielsen got on board, people became aware of us in financial circles. But we would only partner with someone who shares our brand vision. Mama Mio has a very strong brand personality which extends beyond skincare.
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Where do you see your company in 3-5 years?
As a leading skincare brand renound for excellent, safe skincare that works, but just as importantly, a brand that celebrates women and makes them feel good about themselves.
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Is British start-up culture different from somewhere else?
I have a foot in the UK and another in the US so it is always interesting to compare different markets. We launched in both markets at the same time. In the UK, what is useful is that you have a geographically tight and affluent market. Whereas In the US it as a huge territory. It is easier to create a buzz about a brand in the UK than it is in the US. Also, I think UK women are very quick to latch on to the new. They are progressive thinkers, sophisticated consumers. And that is not just in London.
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Are there any experiences in particular that you have learned from?
I think, one of the things that a lot of entrepreneurs have is fear of failure. They have a very good attitude to fear in the US. There they think you should never be afraid of failures, you learn by your mistakes and not from your successes.
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What explains you success?
I am good at inspiring and motivating a team. I am very much a teamplayer. I am good at creating a culture where people love the business that we do. I think it is very important that people love what the work they do.
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Do women “pitch” their company different than men?
Yes they do, and long may it last. When women simply try to play by men’s rules, they miss a massive trick. The majority of the consumers in the world are women and they know how they need to sell it to other women, intuitively, because they sell it to themselves. If you stop thinking that way you lose a huge advantage.
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What advice would you give to young aspiring women?
I would say, have a properly thought-through business plan. Over the last five years, that has been a great lesson to me, the benefit of having a plan, that is realistic and achievable. That will become your bible and roadmap, and also, without it you can’t raise money.
What I have learned in the past years is ideas are easy, making it happen, implementation, being in there for the long-haul, that is the challenge.
FACTBOX
What does web 2.0 mean to you?
It means we can achieve our goal of becoming a whole woman’s world on the web rather than just a retail site. What I find interesting as a non-techie is that when people say to me - ‘look, how amazing is this? You can now do xxx on the web’ - I am always the one saying ‘But that just makes sense to me. Why couldn’t you do that before?’. I really take innovation for granted because it feels so right and natural.
What do you know about web technology?
We have people that we consult with. We are very involved in that. The founders embrace technology, because it is so obvious it will be the future for us. Our consumers are online. They are busy women, probably mothers and they do not have a lot of time. That is why the website has been so successful for us.
How important is google to you?
Right now, we will embark on a lot of marketing initiatives to direct people to our site. Now people that coming to us are looking for Mama Mio. They are already converts by the time they get there. They have read about us through the press, or they have used our products before. We have an amazing repeat ratio. They may come through google, but that is because it is easier to type mama mio.com.
How many people visit your website?
Worldwide we have around 3000 visitors a day.
Do they order online?
We have a very high conversion rate. We redeveloped our website recently. That has been a big development, because I am very keen to use the internet to make people understand our brand. I want women enter our world when they enter our site; explaining the stories behind products and people, so people understand what we are doing. That has been stage one. At stage two, we will be developing video and a community. My goal is to make Mama Mio a proper communication channel. I think there are many women networking sites, so for people to want to join ours, it needs to be speaking to them. I currently feel there is no online club that I want to belong to and so I want to create that club.
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