Nancy started her career at Goldman Sachs — but she always knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. She had grown up helping her grandmother and her mother make natural home-remedies for hair and skin, and realized there was a gaping hole in the beauty market. But she didn’t quit her day job right away: instead, she stayed on the trading room floor for another four years and worked evenings and weekends to run her own business, Briogeo, on the side. Talk about time management skills.
On Learning From Wall Street
Nancy: I was working so much and there was just so much pressure constantly, but you kind of just get thrown into the fire and you just kind of figure it out. And I think that part of it was really important for me in starting my own company, because in so many ways you just get thrown into situations that you've never had to deal with before, and you just have to figure it all out.
On Finding The Moment To Quit
Nancy: I wanted to feel like I actually had a really good shot before I left my job. So I didn't quit until I had interest from Sephora. And I knew that like, ‘Hey, if I leave, at least I'm going to have a retailer and I can really focus on it and pour all of my energy into it.’ And it's a really good opportunity for me to actually pour myself into, and take that risk.
On Noticing An Opportunity
Nancy: I've always been a pretty avid beauty consumer, and I was definitely starting to see the shift that was happening. It really started in food, and then it started stemming into personal care and beauty, with people looking for more clean, healthy options. And I was thinking back to the products that we were making at home, and I just felt like it was a really great opportunity.
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