Gaining More Experience — I wish I would have gained more corporate experience before going out on my own because it would have shortened my learning curve. But instead, I just dove in, learning the ropes as I navigated challenges. It was rough in the beginning because I didn’t have a support system or the right knowledge, but wisdom comes with experience. I made it through.
As part of my series about young people who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kristin Marquet.
Kristin Marquet, the marketing representative of LA-based premium beauty brand, KIMTRUE. Kristin has been in the beauty field for more than 12 years and has been working with KIMTRUE since the beginning of 2021. She has worked with a diverse group of beauty and fashion brands since she launched her first business in 2009.
KIMTRUE is an emerging beauty brand that sells high quality haircare and skincare products for female consumers in the U.S., and internationally. The company uses top-notch, cutting-edge active ingredients to formulate non-traditional, results-focused products at affordable prices. KIMTRUE also takes pride in being a socially responsible company and is dedicated to helping and supporting its local community.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Earlier this year, I started working with KIMTRUE on the PR and influencer marketing sides of the business to help increase its brand awareness, generate website traffic, and build a loyal customer base. So far, we’ve received positive feedback and significant media coverage on the brand.
Aside from working with KIMTRUE, I have a boutique digital marketing and branding consultancy in New York, called Marquet Media, and the emerging media company, FemFounder.co. Both of these ventures are dedicated to helping small businesses launch and grow.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
Since I started in the industry, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people, but I would say the most interesting was when I produced my first fashion show back in 2015 during NYFW. It was extremely chaotic and stressful, but I had the opportunity to meet some of today’s most well-known actors and musicians. It was kind of surreal to plan and produce such a high-profile event.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest (or silliest) mistake I had made in business was being distracted by shiny object syndrome when I first started my business. Whenever a new piece of technology was released, I would get distracted by it. Take, for instance, Instagram. When it first came out a decade ago, I was wrapped up in the novelty of it. But I learned how important it is not get distracted by trends that will not serve mine and my clients’ businesses well short and long term.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?
With the COVID-19 pandemic causing significant disruptions and problems throughout the U.S. healthcare system, we recently made a large donation of its hand sanitizer to the local charity, GOA, Guardians of the Angeles Charitable Foundation, to aid healthcare frontline workers throughout the greater Los Angeles area. We plan to contribute more of our products to the local community as well.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
In late 2020, we donated a total of 3,168 units of 16-ounce hand sanitizer bottles, with a retail value of $30,000.00 to the local LA community. We made this donation to ensure medical centers and essential healthcare workers had enough PPE to make it through the winter months.
Our hand sanitizer is antibacterial and vegan that eliminates 99.9 percent of germs on contact. It contains 70 percent ethyl alcohol that helps dissolve the lipid membrane of bacterial cells. This potent antibacterial formula has demonstrated effectiveness against bacteria, funguses, and viruses. This disinfectant also moisturizes and protects skin from dryness, flakiness, and cracked skin — making this formulation suitable for medical centers. Our hand sanitizer is also produced in an FDA registered facility in the United States.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
I think there are many things, but I think the biggest thing that society can do as a whole, is to help others who need it. Giving back to the community is one of our brand pillars so we strive to help as many people as we can. If everyone who could give back would give back, this would help solve a lot of larger societal crises.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
We define leadership as influencing others to achieve a certain goal. In business, it means to lead your team to work towards something that will help further the mission of an organization, while helping others in some capacity.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
As someone who has worked in the beauty PR field and for more than a decade and has run a number of other successful startups, I have quite a few, but here are the top five things I wish I would have known.
- Gaining More Experience — I wish I would have gained more corporate experience before going out on my own because it would have shortened my learning curve. But instead, I just dove in, learning the ropes as I navigated challenges. It was rough in the beginning because I didn’t have a support system or the right knowledge, but wisdom comes with experience. I made it through.
- Getting a Mentor — As an extension of my first point, I wish I would have also had a mentor in the early days to shorten the learning curve, but I decided to learn everything on my own. It was tough so I recommend to others who want to become an entrepreneur to get a mentor. Find someone who understands your industry and is willing to guide you through the process.
- Hiring the Right Talent — I wish I would have hired the right talent in the beginning instead of trying to learn to do everything by myself. I would have saved a lot of time and resources. Hire the right people when you can so you can focus on growing your business.
- There is No Such Thing As Perfect — I wish I would have learned that 95 percent is good enough. No one else is going to notice otherwise. When you strive for 100 percent every single time you do something, perfectionism will get in the way and hinder success. It’s important to understand that 95 percent is good enough.
- Investing in Marketing — I wish I would have invested a portion of my profits in marketing in the early stages of launching my first business. Take a small amount of money and put it into marketing to build awareness and get customers.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
This is a great question. We, at KIMTRUE, want to bring customers the best overall experience with minimalist packaging because we believe in being environmentally friendly and not overloading our packages with unnecessary paper.
We are also working towards bringing down the overall cost of goods so we can offer affordable prices with better ingredients in our formulas. We believe in providing top-quality products for our customers at reasonable prices.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“You Learn More From Failure Than From Success. Don’t Let It Stop You. Failure Builds Character.” — Unknown
You’re going to fail in life and in business at least once, so it’s important to learn from those failures quickly and move on. Failure is one of life’s greatest learning opportunities.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Yes, actually. It would have to be Oprah Winfrey, because of her wisdom and success.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
For more information about the company, its social responsibility initiatives, and all of its product lines, please visit KIMTRUE.com.
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This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Social Impact Heroes: Why and How Kristin Marquet of KIMTRUE Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.