Female Founders: Nancy Duitch of Sera Labs On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Women do not get the same respect level as men. I had to work harder and be so much better than all my male counterparts. I have had people say that women bosses are very bossy, but when a man is making you accountable he is a good businessman.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nancy Duitch.
Nancy Duitch, founder and CEO has over 30 years’ experience as a leader in the consumer products industry. She has developed several diverse businesses from start-up to public company level, and has executed state-of-the-art marketing/branding campaigns generating over $3 billion in revenue for some of the most well-loved brands. Her creativity, ability to develop talent, and effective utilization of multi-channel strategy for optimal ROI has consistently positioned Nancy as an industry leader.
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?
My first job out of college was working for a “modeling agency/school” in Philadelphia where I was raised and within 6 months I became the Executive Manager moving ahead of all the other employees in the company. Within 2 years I had grown the business and wasn’t challenged anymore. I moved to California and started looking for a job in beauty/sales. Fortunately, I was hired pretty quickly to work for a company Spa Formula owned by Jack LaLanne, and set up cosmetic and skin care counters in all the Jack LaLanne health spas, educating the members on skin care and the right cosmetics in order to enhance their look. I adored that business and by 23 quickly became their National Sales Director. I loved the business of self-improvement even before it was “in” and educating women to be the best they could be.
After a few years, I left the company and started my own distribution network selling products to the major department stores, and I felt such freedom to make my own decisions and live by my mistakes and achievements. It wasn’t easy for women in the early 80’s, and all I wanted was success and respect. I sold this business to my partner and took some time off to raise my children. Five months after selling the company, my 29-year-old younger sister who gave birth to a boy passed away in her sleep. My younger athletic brother passed away suddenly 12 years earlier and my mother, my husband, and I were on a quest to find out what happened. We discovered that I, along with my siblings, had a genetic heart disorder that was just becoming well known in the medical community — Long QT syndrome. From there, we started The CARE Foundation whose primary goal was to research and educate the medical community and public in our mission to end sudden death in children and young adults.
I spent the next three years focused solely on getting to the bottom of this disorder and today the biotech companies and the entire medical community are aware that when a young person faints/ has a syncopal episode to not wave it off as nothing, as this is a serious genetic condition that can be controlled with a simple beta blocker or a defibrillator. I then went back to work in 1995 as the VP of Sales for a company that marketed health, wellness, and beauty products through infomercials. I loved the field of dreams concept that if you build it, they will come, only IF THEY KNOW YOU ARE THERE. I was so excited when I was able to sell products to the retailers due to the fact, they would call me as we were spending over $1m/week on TV media. My first product was the Ab Rollers, and many more products in the wellness and beauty categories. I feel fortunate that my career led me down the path of wellness and beauty, as I love the industries and feel as if everything I had done in my past allowed me to finally culminate where I am today, with integrating cutting-edge technology in our wellness and beauty products that can really make a difference to everyone. Becoming a female CEO was not easy in the late 90’s and the early 2000’s and I was fortunate to achieve great success as well as making a number of mistakes, but today, I am at a place where I have the full support of my family and the business community.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
There are interesting stories every day, as I believe you can not be a good leader unless you are constantly evolving and learning new and better ways to improve your business and relationships. One of the more interesting times was when I was interviewing vendors and potential employees over a period of two days. I had nine meetings, and each candidate I interviewed asked if I knew Ryan Duitch, who is my son.
I can’t tell you how surreal it was to interview and work with people who knew my son that I still thought of as a five year old even though he was a UC Berkeley graduate with an MBA from USC. I actually thought these people were closer to my age, instead of in their late 20’s, which goes to show how I needed to get my reality hat back on.
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 was very nervous for my first interview out of college and went with my mom to purchase a gray and white pinstripe suit. Nobody taught women how to interview in those days, so when I met the interviewer, he had on an undershirt with the buttons on his white shirt popping out. He proceeded to ask me a number of questions and then he asked “where do you see yourself in 10 years”. My response was, “Well I see myself first as your boss and then the President of the company”. He looked at me and said “ I would think before you look to be the President you should try to get a M.R.S degree”. I smiled, said thank you and not until I walked out did I realize what he meant. I never again said I wanted to be someone’s boss in an interview.
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?
One of my two great mentors was a gentleman named Earl Greenberg. Earl was bigger than life and knew everyone. Earl was the most important person in the Direct Response industry in its infancy as he led HSN and was very influential in the TV business. Whenever I had an issue, I leaned on Earl and he was always there for me. I was involved in a business with two other women for a short time and I didn’t relate to their lack of values and ethics. I met Earl for lunch one day and he said he had done a lot of thinking about these two and wanted me out of that company as these women were toxic and destructive. He made an introduction to a wonderful man, Ralf Leszinski, who was a genius and became my business partner for many years. My loyalty and love for Earl getting me out of that toxic relationship never faded and even though he left this planet 14 years ago, I am proud he chose me to mentor.
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?
A lack of confidence and understanding of how to tell your story. Too many women want to tell the facts when it is critical to have all the facts, but in a storytelling format. Be interesting and compelling. I have never had a problem raising money since I am extremely confident and always have a vision and a concise strategy that will weave into a message to excite and entice the listener. The next lesson is to always know your audience and speak directly to them. Answer the questions with enthusiasm and always be transparent. Nobody expects you to be perfect, but they expect you to know your business.
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?
What I feel strongly about is mentoring your women. Women are great at multitasking and empathy and are not afraid to learn and be guided. When I hire women, the first thing I tell them is I have an open door policy and they can come in at any time with issues, solutions, suggestions, etc. We have a collaborative environment and once they feel safe then I can begin the mentoring process of showing what they have to grow within the organization. I am never prouder than when someone who has worked with me for years then leaves to spread their wings and advance their career signaling I have done my job.
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?
I love being a woman founder as I have a seat at the table. You then have the ability to utilize your leadership qualities and bring your vision to life. I love being my own boss, even though I have a board of directors I report to, they also have a lot of respect for my skill set and my ability to generate revenues. If you are a true leader with a strong vision and creativity in how you are able to articulate what differentiates your company, then you should become a woman founder. We need more women who are willing to share and mentor as I have worked so hard to do.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
The “myths” would be you don’t have to answer to anyone- you have to answer to your customers, investors and your employees. It is easier to be a founder- wrong- it is hard work to keep up your energy and mood every day. You are in a safer environment- Being a founder means not feeling safe 100% of the time and always looking out for the company’s best interest which may not be yours.
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?
Not everybody is cut out to be a founder. I find you have to be tough but like raising children, tough love is hard but critical for making your employees respect you. You must cross your T’s and dot your I’s as you are on the hook every day for any mistakes. Always use an outsource payroll company and make sure they are paying the payroll tax, or you are 100% liable. Know you will need to sign every contract and you must have legal guidance in what you are signing, or you could lose more than the contract is worth.
The likelihood someone will be a successful founder is if they have a vision, understand strategy, are willing to do what it takes to make it, such as raising money, borrowing money until you raise it, without compromising your integrity, and of course being a good leader.
Someone who should see a regular job is someone who is always looking for direction, wants a 9–5 job, is as interested in your vacation policies and wants a safe environment. These are fine if you are an employee, but not as the Founder- the first person to not get paid when there is a cash crunch is the Founder.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Women do not get the same respect level as men. I had to work harder and be so much better than all my male counterparts. I have had people say that women bosses are very bossy, but when a man is making you accountable he is a good businessman.
- There’s not that much work to do. I am very compulsive making lists and being organized as there is so much work to do when you are the founder and the CEO of a company. If you think all you need to do is lead then you will fail. I learned a long time ago to make sure I knew every detail about my company so I could train everyone we hired.
- Being a public company is not fun all of the time. It is like having a second full time job. It takes a different skill set and you must be nimble and quick to be able to be the CEO of a public company as well as the day to day operations of your main revenue generation business.
- You need more than a small investment to get your company off the ground. I learned a long time ago that I needed a rolodex of all the big VC’s and PE companies as well as how to keep the relationships over the years, especially when I didn’t need them. Guess what? You always need more money and take what someone offers even if it means a small dilution as you cannot be successful without money. It’s like construction on your house — everything costs more and takes more time.
- This is NOT easy. Starting a business is not easy. The best days are always when you’re building, but you need passion, drive, determination, and a lot of luck and great timing.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
We only use sustainable factories in the USA to make our products. As you know from my beginning story, I was a founder of the CARE foundation and helped to save lives. Mentoring is very important to me and making products that really make a difference. For example, we developed a plant based skin care product line with Nicole Kidman and then integrated one of our patented delivery systems into the products so the ingredients get delivered deep into the skin. Our Nutri-Strips products bypass the gut and liver so you get better bioavailability for superior potency.
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.
I would love to be able to speak to women everywhere and impart my experiences on how to be a great leader as well as being a great partner and parent. I hear “you can’t have it all:, but you can if you are smart and have a great partner in your life. I would love to make a difference in the lives of these women who are trying to be successful. I look around at my husband, children and my 10 grandkids and know that what is important is right in that room. If I could impart this feeling of love and satisfaction to thousands of others I can make a difference.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Nancy Duitch of Sera Labs On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.