Love your skin with Banish!
Daisy Jing is the Founder and CEO of Banish.
Banish is a natural skincare solution that treats acne scars. The company started out in Daisy's kitchen, mixing raw ingredients from all different manufacturers, finding the perfect set that didn’t irritate her skin. None of Banish’s products have artificial ingredients, colors, fragrances, dyes, mineral oil, etc.
Learn more about how Banish can help your skin by listening to this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur above and don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – Spotify –Google Play –Castbox – TuneIn – RSS.
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0:00
Welcome to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. I'm Josh Elledge, founder and CEO of UpMyInfluence.com. We turn entrepreneurs into media celebrities, grow their authority, and help them build partnerships with top influencers. We believe that every person has a unique message that can positively impact the world. stick around to the end of the show, where I'll reveal how you can be our next guest on one of the fastest growing daily inspiration podcasts on the planet in 15 to 20 minutes. Let's go. All right, Daisy Jing, you are the Founder and CEO of Banish you started six years ago. And I think you have a phenomenal story because you were just doing content on social media. And then you accidentally started a company. Can you kind of take us back to the old days? What was like the first thing you did on the web? Did you then why did Did you start a YouTube channel?
1:02
Yeah, thanks, Josh for having me on here. So um, I've suffered with acne my entire life and my skin and that was my biggest insecurity. So during this time, I was trying out all these different products to help my skin. Nothing seemed to work. One day I decided to open up my laptop and film a video. And it was a very vulnerable video it was titled growing up ugly. And I'm just sharing all the scabs on my face, all of my acne, all of that. And I was like something told me to publish it. So I published it. And then I think some friends found out about it, and I shared it on Facebook, horrifyingly, but like, it was being shared and it kind of went viral. From that video, I realized, hey, like a lot of people need to hear this message. And a lot of people want to see people with not perfect skin and they want to see what products I'm using and all that so that inspired me to make more videos. So it was really out of like loneliness out of desperation. Out of wanting to connect with other people that I started the channel. And then fast forward about three, four years. I, you know, I have a lot of videos on YouTube, I did a lot of research on skincare. I did a lot of like ingredient testing, all of that kind of stuff. And I kind of just made my own products, and I would use them on myself. And then people wanted to purchase them for me. And I'm like, you really want to Okay, fine. And then that's just kind of how it snowballed into that.
2:29
Yeah,
2:30
yeah. So it was very, like, kind of accidental, but I do believe the best businesses come from the problem you're trying to solve and it all needs to stem from a problem. You can't just do something because you want to do it like needs to help other people. And so I was helping myself first and then other people wanted to try it as well.
2:50
Daisy helped me try to figure out that line of, you know, sharing our vulnerability, sharing the thing that we're insecure about and Maybe oversharing or someone going, Oh, no, you don't don't talk about like, how do we know like, what, what to share?
3:09
I always
3:10
err on the side of oversharing because I think that if I didn't share, I wouldn't be where I am today. So, I err on that site and I think people really like to relate to that, like oversharing because I think people are kind of tired of looking at you know, this perfectly edited life. So
3:30
yeah, I think oversharing is okay, as long as you're not hurting anybody or you know, revealing any confidential information about you know, someone else's life, I think you can share your story and your story is yours to share and you shouldn't be ashamed of it. Now,
3:44
and so, you know, your YouTube channel has just, just in case anyone's not aware. So if you go to the acne channel, on YouTube, just search for the acne channel, you'll find that Daisy, you've got videos. For example, one is DIY. blackhead removal has over 10 million views, did you I mean, that that's just that blows my mind every 10 million people, that's a lot of people that you've impacted.
4:18
That's really funny because that video was like, so dumb. Like, I didn't plan it for it. Like, I had no idea it was gonna blow up into that. And I think one of the things is people like they were making fun of me in the comments. And that drove up the traffic and they engaged which I had no intention of doing. So you could also make a fool of yourself and people start arguing the comments which drive up engagement. So yeah, I mean, I mean, I guess people wanted to see it, you know, there wasn't that content out there. And people wanted to know how to get rid of blackheads. And I used to steam around my face,
4:50
and they're like, Whoa, like, What is she doing? And yeah, in engagement, a lot of conversation.
4:55
So did any of the comments were you like was that difficult for you?
5:00
No, I don't really care. Cuz I, I mean, I think of it as like you're helping my views go up by, you know, engaging in the content whether it's positive or negative, right.
5:09
Yeah, that's how I think of it.
5:13
And so to talk about, like YouTube today, do you think anybody could do what you did seven to nine years ago today? And like that formula would still work? Okay, today?
5:25
Definitely not. You really changed?
5:28
Yes, so much. And a lot of creators, you know, they're complaining that algorithms are changing. They're supporting more corporate content and more celebrity content. So it's now moving away from that friends and family and that person next door, that webcam, creative content to more professionally created content, like, you know, traditional media. I mean, I still think it's possible, but you need to have some kind of following ahead of time, like either, whether it's on a different social media platform that you can drive traffic to or have kind of a connection To be able to do that, but because I think if you just launch a video out there, it's going to be really hard to find, if not impossible, but you have to be really strategic.
6:08
Yeah. What did you think about people and I think you're well qualified to talk about this, because it's your story. So people who feel like and this is what with with up my influence, we deal with this quite frequently, where we'll work with a business we get a lot of business owners that have achieved success, but they did it from behind their computer screen, they got up to a certain level, and then they're like, now I really feel like I need to get out from behind my computer screen and, and start like, I really want to connect with people or I really want to inspire people. But like, I have just like, I don't want to feel like I'm bragging like I don't or you know, it's not like the insecurity about bragging is you know, maybe just their own insecurities about how they communicate what they look like, you know, whether it's their their head hair, their skin, their weight, whatever it might be, like, how do you how would you advise someone through that process?
7:09
Yeah, so I actually have a very similar experience, even though I did start as the face of the company, when the company started to grow, like, very quickly, I remove myself as the face of the company.
7:21
So actually took a break from social media from YouTube.
7:24
And I think it hurt a lot of the social media following because I would put other people like we have these brand ambassadors, and I would actually put them as like the face of the company and have them speak on behalf of banish and that I mean, if I would do it over again, I would have not done that. Because my story is very, very important. And that's really critical to the company's success. And so now I'm getting back into it by posting more but I'm still behind because I took that long hiatus. So the reason why I kind of like wanted to step aside was because it's a little Lot of work, you know, being an influencer and running a business like I, I run the business like it's not like, you know, someone else is doing it for me like, and so it's a lot of work. And the last thing I want to do is like put on a happy face and like you like everything's going great everyone you know, and all that stuff. But I think people like to see like I think people really connect with me because they like to see somebody who had the experience I had because they can relate to it. So they trust me more and so they don't want to see perfection, which I think it took me a while to realize they want to see kind of really all the ups and downs and everything that I'm working on. So I'm gradually like trying to get back into it. But it is still difficult because I feel the pressure to be perfect. I feel the pressure to be this perfect CEO with this perfect lynnster following and do everything else in the business and manage all the people you know and do
8:54
all that stuff. So
8:56
So don't put too much pressure on yourself. And I think that trust can really drive in terms of conversions for your business as well. It's not like an overnight thing, but I think you're going to have that core following of, you know, that cult core following of maybe even 1000 people. And that can be enough to really drive up those conversions and that trust in your brand.
9:18
You know, do you do you think your audience expects some level of perfection from you?
9:26
Definitely not. But I thought they did. Yeah, I thought they did. And I thought I had to be like, all put together and all Yeah,
9:34
everything has to be perfect. But
9:37
I realized like, the more I tried to make it perfect, the worst that actually performed so Wow, no, I'm just myself and I realized people really liked that they can relate. relate to that. And that's what our brand is, you know, and I do think it is very important to have a little bit of a persona you don't need to have like, a huge influence. Right. And I think Josh, what you're doing is really important because people don't trust companies, people. Right. Right, right. So you, you want to make sure you're kind of out there and you kind of personify the business a little bit.
10:08
I love that. Yeah. And I get that question frequently in just in terms of branding, and I said, Listen, you can, you know, you can have a brand like, yours is banished, calm, but you're the face of that brand and people connect with you. Your story is what, you know, it's like, what's really wonderful is like, your story is their story. If they're, you know, if they have acne or scars from acne, you know, they relate to your story, you know, if it's just, you know, we're just looking at a product and the features or benefits of the product. It's like, no, there's no emotional connection to that only maybe the hope of, I don't know, maybe this will work for me. But yeah, I think why your audience loves you so much as like, you know, they identify with you and I think you were willing to, you know, go out First and say, you know, hey, this you know, for whatever reason gene pool yay you know, I, I had a you know I had to deal with you know with acne pretty badly so okay so you're so you're doing some videos, the videos get a lot of traction and you're experimenting with products and then how do you go from experimenting products to saying I'm going to start my own?
11:29
Yeah I experiment products I didn't think to start my own um I use it on myself and then people wanted whatever it is I was using because I saw the results from the videos.
11:39
Right? But these were other people's products right?
11:44
No, they were products I actually made myself like I mixed it up.
11:47
Well explain that.
11:50
Explain how you made your own products like to me?
11:54
Yeah, well, because I've had acne for you know since I was nine years old. I do have Like a chemistry biology background. So I would do a lot of research on different ingredients and you know, different ingredients like one form. Like Like, for example, although sorbic acid, there's different forms of it, you can get it from different suppliers. different suppliers have different versions, right? And it works differently for different skin. So, because I was so like, obsessive about every single ingredient that I put on my skin, I was able to kind of source the best ingredient that worked for me from the best vendors, and then use it and then actually, it worked for me.
12:34
What I like about this random Yeah, what I love about this Daisy is that you invested in growing an audience first and connecting and educating and serving an audience first, before cashing in, right? You didn't where I think a lot of marketers they develop a product and they're like, okay, now I'm going to take this to market. And I think that's backwards. It's, you know, if you really want to, you know, I think do this well, you know, gain the Trust, have an audience who really connects with you. And then you ask them, you know, what are your problems and then, you know, while you're solving your own problems, you say, Oh my gosh, I could really help our community by making this available to it. For whatever reason, I'm kind of in this position now. You know, if I don't act, people are going to just be trying the same old chemical stuff and it's not working. And this product actually works. Now the question Daisy I have is you come up with a product line, you develop bed, like, how do you like what do you what did you learn in those first, say three months of unveiling this product that maybe was a little surprising.
13:49
I would say the packaging like even though the packaging was awful, the website looked awful. Everything about it was just like badly designed. It was so bad.
13:57
Yeah.
13:58
It people still wanted to Buy it and they would repurchase it and buy it for their friends and family. So I realized that, you know, so many people spend so much time trying to make the website look amazing and perfect and take amazing photography and that doesn't matter like the product needs to work or you need to create something that people love, right? That's first and foremost because I was like, Who's gonna buy this? It's like so like the package. Not that great. Doesn't look what it looks like today. But people didn't care they wanted it.
14:28
Were How did you do the packaging? Like you just thought you found a supplier that was able to put all this together?
14:35
Yeah, I found the supplier I bought out the product. Um, I put a label on it. I put it in packaging
14:42
that don't have any of those.
14:44
Yeah, I have it. Um, I just did a video on banishes six birthday and so I have screenshots of what everything looks like. Yeah, but yeah, it doesn't. It doesn't really matter. Like all that stuff. You really have to create something that people really want and will love it. So much that they'll tell their friends and family about it. So I always tell my team even to this day, that's one of our values is we need to focus on the internal like, let's, let's focus on like, not the superficial, let's focus on the ingredients. Let's focus on how we make the products. Let's focus on the team because that's super important. Everything else is like, extra, right? And I think sometimes people focus too much on the extra and they don't focus on what's really important.
15:24
Yeah, you know, I like that. It's kind of like the Guy Kawasaki. Don't worry, be crappy, you know, just just get it just do the thing like you will. It's like people who, you know, are scared of starting YouTubing, for example, because they're like, Oh, I don't know what to say. And I'm not going to be that good on camera. It's like, no, you're not but that's okay. It's the only way to In my opinion, like podcasting, for example is so I've been podcasting for six years, but I put it off for three years because I was so nervous about people judging Me, you know, it just it was a new level of vulnerability for me. And I was just afraid that I don't know people are going to call me out for so I don't know what but I was just like that fear kept me from doing a lot of good in the world. And I don't know that the world needs more influencers or beautiful people, but the world needs more givers and teachers and, you know, people with heart that like, Look, I'm not, you know, it's like, I think it's like, I'm not the perfect person for this, this role. But I'm an imperfect person who's willing to do it, because I see that there's an opportunity to, you know, teach something that I learned or you know, give you share an experience that I had that maybe you can relate with. What do you think?
16:51
No, I definitely think that's the case and even with influencers now I feel like I feel like people are kind of tired of like, you know, this perfect persona People people want to see what's real. That's why maybe reality TV so popular, right? Because people want to see like, the ups and downs. So, yeah, it's all about what is that done is better than perfect. That's like one of my mottos. And ironically for me, I am a struggling perfectionist, like I am probably the biggest perfectionist out there, but I have to tell myself like you just have to go and do it. And I always tell my team, like give me an artificial deadline, like give me a deadline on something or else it'll never get done because I'm just gonna get as perfect as possible. So yeah, done is better than perfect.
17:37
So tell me about your you have a product line now and all of this is available@banish.com. I love your packaging. I love your branding today. And I recognize it's a little bit different than it is today than it was when you started. But can you give me a little bit of a highlight of the products that you offer and what it does?
17:57
Yeah, so big.
17:58
So it really stems from My acne story and I still struggle with my skin today it's you know, still not 100% perfect. But what I realized was the current products for skin issues have a lot of chemicals, chemicals and that it would bleach my pillowcases, my hair and I mean it's really really harsh to the skin. So because it was so harsh, it actually made my skin worse and would make it break out even more. So I realized a natural solution was better for my skin. So all of our products are natural, they're vegan, they're cruelty free, we actually make the products fresh. So if you order them today we make it out and ship it out the next day. So we all do it in small batch sizes so we don't you know we don't drop ship or do any of that because we actually ship it from one location which is our office.
18:51
And I really think that
18:53
that maintains the purity of the products, the ingredients with the products we have full control over the end to end process of it with Which which explains why the products are the way they are right? Because Because again I would use products that had you know, either artificial colors or fragrances or preservatives and it would just make my skin worse. So every little ingredient we have in our products I'm super picky about actually tested on myself and my team we have a group of influencers who try out the products before we ship and I and I say no to the majority like 99% formulations and all that stuff out there because I'm super picky about the ingredients.
19:29
Yeah. And so so right now everybody who purchases it, you just you don't sell through other third party storefronts me it's all directly from you. Why do it that way and not open up on say Amazon
19:49
as well. So our products are made fresh. So for example, our banish oil, we make it the same day order kind of like a restaurant. So if we were to do that, like what does it fulfill my Amazon or whatever, we'd have to ship them products ahead of time, right. And then they would store it wherever and then they would ship it out. So that also has a little bit of lag of a time. And we don't have control over the product distribution. I think that's really important for us. We want to know who our customers are. And we want to control the end to end process from the moment gets dropped off to the delivery Korea. It's really, really important for us, and also the formulation of our products because it's so fresh and natural. They cannot stay in a warehouse for six months, like it just will go mad. Yeah. So that's really the basis of our products. And when people order online now, so you know, it's just easier to get it online than having to do the whole wholesale retail
20:47
sort of route.
20:49
Now, Daisy Jing, thank you so much for joining us. You're the Founder and CEO of Banish. I love your story. You're also a TEDx speaker, and you can actually watch Daisy's TEDx talk, you just go to Daisy Jing. That's Daisy with a Y, Jing, j i n g, dot com and you've got your TEDx talk. I'll link there where you can watch that. I'm sure you could probably find it on the YouTube as well. So Daisy, thank you so much. Thanks.
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