Female Founders: Chrissy Cabrera of Naturally London On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Be Ready to Pivot. Keep your best ankle-supporting shoes on at all times, because you never know when you may have to pivot. Many founders realized the power of pivoting during the pandemic. However, it is a very important skillset to have at any time. My brand has done a few very strategic, game changing pivots. Don’t be afraid to try something new because it could be the thing that catapults your success.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Chrissy Cabrera.
Chrissy Cabrera is a guacamole loving, skincare fanatic, mother of two, who also, happens to be a Certified Aromatherapist and the Mastermind behind Naturally London. She has always had issues with her feet such as arch pain, calluses and dryness. But, these issues became over abundant during her first pregnancy leading to her inspiration to create Naturally London.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
During my first pregnancy, I suffered from severe swelling and pain in my feet. The only thing that brought relief & joy was soaking my feet. The biggest obstacle was I couldn’t stand the smell of tea tree & peppermint, which are most common in footcare. So, I created my own products sans these two ingredients.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
Everyone thinks my name is London when they meet me. I guess I look like a London. It’s actually my daughter’s name. I only saw fit to name by business after my inspiration.
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?
I made a true rookie mistake from excitement. I ordered 3000 .1oz jars for a subscription box partnership. Ummmmm, I actually needed 3000 1oz jars. I still have these jars in my possession to this day.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There are five people I call my “Consulting Circle of Trust”. One of these five is my business bestie, Shirley. Her business is called Beurre. We met at an expo in 2015 and have shared resources, advice, and guidance ever since that day. It’s very nice to have someone as a sounding board for ideas or to vent out frustrations from obstacles.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
There are probably lots of women out there who have great ideas for a business. The issue is funding and fear. Depending on the industry, some need some serious capital to create their business. Combine that with the fear of not really knowing what to do and having the guidance/mentorship to do it.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
Our society does not teach or motivate us to be entrepreneurs. We are conditioned to be employees. The first step is to find a way to make entrepreneurship an everyday norm.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
Women should continue to become founders, in order to eradicate the wage gap and empower women to be financially independent. You can be successful at a job, but financial independence occurs when you work for yourself.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
There are so many myths, but one in particular is that it’s always so glamorous. This may be true for some, but not for me. I do a lot of the grit work, if not all. It means long days and constantly having to “eat what you kill”. Another myth is the belief that, if you own you own business, you are rolling in the dough. Most of us are happy to make enough money to tend to our families’ needs. Last, but not least: success doesn’t happen overnight. It may happen for some that get the glorious opportunity to go viral. However, going viral is unpredictable. The one thing is for sure is consistency yields results. Japanese farmers nurture their bamboo crops for five years without seeing any results. They continue to tend the fields, water them, etc. And then boom! The bamboo shoots up from the ground overnight. It took five years of work for that “overnight” success.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
The simple answer is no. It is very easy to say not everyone is meant to be a founder, just like not everyone is meant to be an Olympic gold medalist. There needs to be an innate drive and resilience that fuels you. Being a founder is not for the faint at heart since there are some serious unknowns and lots of rejection. Many think being a founder is a race, but it is definitely more like a marathon. It’s best to go slow and steady to finish strong and have your team of cheerleaders and water bearers to keep you going along the way.
I previously used an analogy on how founders have to hunt what you eat, skin it, gut it and fry it in the pan. If that doesn’t appeal to you, it may be best to continue shopping at the grocery store for your food, i.e., continue working a “regular job”. And that’s completely fine too.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Gather yourself a team. Even though many of us are solopreneurs, it is important to have yourself a team. You will need a team to go the distance. My team started out with three people I trusted to discuss my ideals with, in order to be my sounding board. From there I expanded to my graphic designer, seasonal helpers, social media manager and brand ambassador manager. Eventually, you will need to delegate so you can keep your business pushing forward.
- Condition yourself to rejection. Most people will say no to you. No means no and is not personal simply move on to the next opportunity. It doesn’t define you and it may be a blessing in disguise.
- Strengthen your inner salesperson. I struggle in this arena and wish I knew the importance of strengthening my sales muscles before diving into entrepreneurship.
- Be Ready to Pivot. Keep your best ankle-supporting shoes on at all times, because you never know when you may have to pivot. Many founders realized the power of pivoting during the pandemic. However, it is a very important skillset to have at any time. My brand has done a few very strategic, game changing pivots. Don’t be afraid to try something new because it could be the thing that catapults your success.
- Trust your gut. If you decide to talk to others about your ideas, obstacles, choices you are opening yourself up to their advice. At the end of the day, your business is your baby and only you know what is best. Sometimes you will have to go against the advice of those you value and trust, because your gut is telling you to do something else. Trust yourself. The beautiful thing is you took a chance on you and worse case scenario: you have to pivot. (See #4)
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
My years spent in the military taught me so much and one of the things is to always have a component of volunteering or giving back. This is a core value I still live by and I have two charities I work closely with to do our part. One is Soles4Souls, the other is Walk A Mile in Her Shoes. Also, I do mentorship for inspiring entrepreneurs by giving some key tips and strategies to help them on their journey.
I think it’s very important to combine efforts/missions when choosing our partnerships. We are proud of our partnership with Grove Collaborative taking a stance against plastic. Naturally London has our plastic stance as we continue with our plastic less initiative. Currently, we have 11 out of 15 products plastic free.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Our culture and society must eradicate the rape culture embedded in everyday norms. I think it’s very disheartening that being raped has become a normal status or “right of passage” for so many women. The ‘Me Too’ movement was so uniting, but at the same time heartbreaking. The story line needs to drastically change. It’s 2021, it really needs to stop. Like now.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
There are some really good ones that popped into my head. But, I instantly thought of Tracee Ellis Ross because she’s the distant cousin we all need to have in our lives. I am certain breakfast or lunch with her would result in laughing so hard I’d actually pee myself. She seems so authentic with an infectious energy that makes you feel accepted with her smile.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Chrissy Cabrera of Naturally London On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.