Female Founders: Noella Callejo of MOEĀ On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Stay teachable. Invest in mentorship and learning. — One of the best decisions I made was to invest in mentorship and one-on-one consultation from those with industry experience. You can learn from trial and error or you can pay for the wisdom from those who have already navigated the same challenges. Always stay open to learning and if youʻre able to find mentors in your specific industry, really consider making that investment. I paid from my personal checking account for a mentorship course with an expert in wholesale strategies, it was worth every penny.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Noella Callejo.
Noella Callejo co-founded beauty brand, MOEĀ, modern botanical skincare inspired by authentic Hawaii living. She combined years of experience in the healthcare sales industry and love of natural beauty products with her best friend’s work as a master hula teacher and Hawaiian cultural practitioner. Since launching sales of MOEĀ in July 2020, the brand has been tapped by Target to be featured at all Hawaii regional stores and also launched international distribution in Japan.
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?
I paid for most of my college degree through pageants since I was a teen. At 16, I won the national title as Miss American Teen while representing my home state of Hawaii. It was then I discovered this passion for telling the story of where I’m from on a broader platform and recognized the unique allure of Hawaii for people around the world. My professional background has been in public relations and healthcare sales. In 2019, I decided to channel my passions and creative energies into a Hawaii inspired beauty brand, MOEĀ, with my best friend.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
I entered a local business plan competition that included an 8-minute pitch to panelists, I never even made it to the top 5 finalists but I was really grateful for the experience. A couple weeks later I sent out the exact same business plan and brand deck to a Target accelerator program. I didn’t get in the program, but a senior executive from Target reached out and said they were particularly struck by the story and intention of our brand to share culture. They asked if I’d be interested in sharing my brand info with their regional buyers. That was the start of getting our products onto Target shelves.
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?
When our facial mist finished products arrived, product spilled everywhere during shipping. We also didn’t feel like it was spraying as a mist, the sprayers were spitting out product. I had a massive falling out with my business partner as we had a very emotional reaction to our losses and different ideas on how to remedy the situation. I ended up using money I saved for my wedding to correct the issues and deliver on my vision. I learned to give myself the permission to fail up from an experience and that being a founder of a small business is like having another mouth to feed at times, with unexpected expenses at every turn.
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?
I have so many people I have to be grateful for, but I’m grateful for my kids. My second son is 12 years old and was helping me pack boxes last holiday season. He was a bit upset that he saw me working many late nights on a business plan and still didn’t win the competition I entered. He got real quiet while packing packing orders with me, stopped and said, “Mom, are you sad you didn’t win?” I knew immediately it was a teaching moment, looked him in the eye and said “No, I’m not upset because every experience in life — winning or losing — is important in preparing us for the next great thing.” Not long after that Target reached out. I’m grateful to be a woman founder that hasn’t had to choose between career and family because my children are learning from my example about work ethic and entrepreneur mindset as they work in the trenches with me.
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?
I’m sure that’s a multi-faceted answer, but I just brought up my children. This makes me think that a lot of women could have family obligations that traditionally they feel more tethered to — whether that’s children or aging parents. Women may have a harder time giving themselves the permission to work on the “big pie in the sky” vision they’ve been daydreaming about for a while if it conflicts with time, energy or resources that could be dedicated to loved ones. It’s also apparent that most venture capital funding still goes to brands founded by men so that’s discouraging when you think about the resources that are available to launch.
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?
I’m beginning to see recognition of the fact that we as a society need to allocate the space to support women owned, women founded companies. One of the largest beauty retailers in the USA realized that most beauty brands are still mainly founded by males and are now making more resources, mentorships, and retail shelf space available specifically for women-owned companies. Imagine if every industry did that!
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?
The world is hungry to see more women following their passions, even if it involves serious stakes and challenging the norms. If 83% of consumption and spending in the U.S. is driven by women, there’s an increased need for more companies to think like a woman and show product innovation led by women. The next generation also needs to see more women in leadership, period.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
You don’t have to be a full-time founder from day one when you start your company. I didn’t just wake up one morning with money that magically fell from the sky to launch a business full-time. I am building a brand in the same way that I’d be pursuing a part-time MBA, juggling my full-time job and family life and just making it happen. Instead of paying money for tuition on business in theory, I invested in my own vision for a business and see everything as the cost of tuition to learn valuable lessons. Will it take more time? A hundred percent, yes.
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?
No, definitely not. Some people like the routine and predictability of knowing you can count on a paycheck and can punch out at 5:00 pm. I haven’t drawn a dime from brand sales of MOEA and don’t plan to anytime soon. Everyone else comes before me in getting compensated for their efforts — formulists, production staff, graphic artists, social media specialists, etc. If you are in a position where your needs and interests have to come before everyone else, I don’t think entrepreneurship is your bag. Just my opinion!
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.)
1. Embrace the Noʻs
My work in the healthcare sales industry has taught me to accept rejection as part of the process in building a business. If I attached my self-esteem and the value of my brand to every “no,” my partner and I would have completely missed the distribution opportunities we currently have. People are keen to ask how we got on the regional stores of Target, but no one ever asks about the 45–50 other retailers I pitched in a pandemic and got “no” from. Michael Jordan said he missed more than 9,000 shots in his career. He said “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” I started out the brand committing to be unafraid of playing small and taking rejection gracefully for five years before quitting. So far a year after launching sales, we’re in Target and sold internationally. We’re grateful where things are right now.
2. Just start. Itʻs never the right time.
We planned to launch in April of 2020 at a festival that is the equivalent of the Olympics for hula competitions. The entire state of Hawaii shutdown to travelers right before we launched and has the longest ongoing travel restrictions in the country. Spas were down and small business retail was struggling to stay open, not taking on new brands and new inventory. 2020 was the worst time to launch anything. But even in the midst of that we managed to get noticed by a major retailer and the Japan government approved our products and ingredients for distribution. Things may not have moved as quickly as we liked, but I’m glad MOEĀ launched when it did.
3. Stay teachable. Invest in mentorship and learning.
One of the best decisions I made was to invest in mentorship and one-on-one consultation from those with industry experience. You can learn from trial and error or you can pay for the wisdom from those who have already navigated the same challenges. Always stay open to learning and if youʻre able to find mentors in your specific industry, really consider making that investment. I paid from my personal checking account for a mentorship course with an expert in wholesale strategies, it was worth every penny.
4. Giving invites abundance
Founders will feel a greater sense of purpose in their success if giving back is embedded into the culture of their companies. We also see a consumer trend to support businesses that demonstrate a social consciousness. A percentage of all MOEĀ online sales are donated to non-profits supporting perpetuation of the Native Hawaiian tradition of hula.
5. Get clear on a personal definition of “thriving”
If you want to avoid burnout and actually enjoy the success you already have (no matter how small or big those wins may be), actively engage in the process of defining with crystal clear clarity what success means to you personally. One of the best books I bought was The Desire Map by Danielle Laporte. I also enjoyed The Parable of the Mexican Fisherman and the Bankers from The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. In ramping up production for the opportunities weʻve had this year, I made a really hard decision to pause direct-to-consumer sales temporarily. The increased demands that come with great opportunities were leading me into overwhelm and I found myself needing to be more fully present in other areas of my life. I had to consider what the point is in being a founder of any company if you’re not able to address when success is counterproductive for your health. We’ve had customers messaging us and we direct them to our retail partners, obviously thereʻs the cost of lost opportunities and we are turning away revenue. Thriving isn’t a dollar amount and if you don’t take the time to get clear on what it means to you, you may never truly enjoy success.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
Before I even started the beauty brand MOEĀ, I was on the board of directors for a non-profit awarding scholarships to women returning to higher education as non-traditional students. It’s called The Rise Project which stands for Resilience in Self-development and Education (theriseprojecthawaii.com). The organization also hosts free women’s workshops that promote personal development and thriving. I see purpose in my personal success and have built that into the fabric of the company I co-founded.
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.
There is a huge disparity between the number of beauty brands in national distribution using the words “Hawaiian” or “Hawaii” in marketing and the number of brands actually led by Pacific Islanders. Hawaii has the highest “diversity index” and yet there’s a glaring lack of founders of color and lack of representation for the traditions of its indigenous people in global beauty.
The world has not even scratched the surface in exploring Hawaii’s elements and traditions as keys to vitality and beauty. I would love if Sephora or Ulta hosted a global beauty brunch and invited me to sit with founders from different cultures around the world, sharing their insights and take on trends to direct the next wave of beauty. That would be next level amazing.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Noella Callejo of MOEĀ 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.