Diana Shneider and Alexandra Bella of Bella Skin Beauty: 5 Things You Need To Run A Highly Successful Family Business

Clear and open channels of communication are crucial. Families have their own way of communicating and sometimes, it is not always the best way. Being straightforward and honest, yet, being able to listen and take in the other person’s opinion is extremely important. If something is not working, don’t let it fester and affect your business. Address it as soon as possible, in the most respectful way possible. — Diana and Alexandra

As a part of our series about 5 Things You Need To Run A Highly Successful Family Business, I had the pleasure of interviewing Diana Shneider and Alexandra Bella.

Founded by mother-daughter duo Diana Shneider and Alexandra Bella, Bella Skin Beauty offers a curated skincare line that emphasizes effective, unique, and transformative products without the harmful ingredients. The duo is redefining anti-inflammatory skincare with nutrient-rich formulations and ingredients that have been used and loved for centuries. Created on the belief that everyone should feel beautiful without compromise, Bella Skin Beauty is bringing the whole-body approach to skincare.

Thank you for joining us in this interview series. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I actually started out working in finance in the corporate world and, after a while, I realized it wasn’t for me. I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I had a million ideas in my head and I felt very confined working in the corporate environment. I was always interested in health and wellness so I dedicated a lot of myself to learning everything there is to know about “clean living.” At the same time, I was suffering from skin inflammation and I was trying to find the perfect products that would meet all of my skin needs. After years of trials and tribulations, I lost hope in finding skincare products that would work for me. I took matters into my own hands and started developing and formulating my own products. Almost immediately, I began experiencing the incredible benefits of the products I was creating. My skin was glowing, plumped and restored; It seemed like I had turned back time. At the same time, my daughter, Alexandra, was working as a full-time model in Los Angeles. She found her skin getting worse and worse due to many hours spent wearing makeup on set. She was in dire need of skincare products that would heal her skin and decrease the inflammation she was experiencing. The products, which I had originally created for myself, saved her skin and provided the relief she needed. So, together, we turned our passion and our discoveries into a business by launching Bella Skin Beauty, a clean, effective, luxurious, organic skincare line with divine textures and invigorating smells. -Diana

Bella Skin Beauty is an organic, clean, and luxurious skincare line focusing on redefining anti-inflammatory skincare using divine textures and invigorating smells. We are based on the principle of harnessing the power of ingredients that have been used and loved for many centuries. Bella Skin Beauty offers a curated skincare line that emphasizes effective, unique and transformative products without the use of harmful ingredients.

We are a mother-daughter duo. We are both co-founders. Even though all business decisions are made together, we have different areas of expertise and different strengths that we bring to the business. I am a product formulator and developer, while my daughter Alexandra heads our marketing, branding, and social media campaigns. — Diana

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

For us, the most interesting stories are always success stories from our customers. We are invested in our customer’s skin health, so nothing is more interesting, or makes us happier than to see someone’s skin transformed when they share their before-and-after photos. We’ve seen some dramatic changes in skin inflammation and texture that customers account to consistently using our products, and seeing women regain their confidence and feel great in their own skin is an indescribable feeling. — Diana and Alexandra

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?

We’ve made our fair share of mistakes. When you are starting-out in an industry that you don’t have any experience in, you really don’t know what is “right” and what is “wrong.” You don’t know the most efficient way of expanding your business, but you do your best to learn as you go. Sometimes, we look back and laugh at some things we tried to do in the very beginning. But, we think this is the nature of the beast. — Diana and Alexandra

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Bella Skin Beauty is different because we believe in a whole-body approach when it comes to skincare. Every product is formulated with that intention and goal in mind. Skin is our bodies’ largest organ and everything that is applied to the skin is absorbed by our bloodstream very quickly. We wanted to make sure that only the most clean, real, and effective ingredients are being applied to the skin. The most important thing we can do is reduce the inflammation in our bodies. If we continue creating inflammation through the toxic products that we use on our skin and hair, we are adding to overall body inflammation. Therefore, we will suffer from aging, acne, redness, and other skin conditions. We believe it is completely possible to transform your skin to its optimal state with the correct skincare products, and we’ve seen it firsthand from our customers. — Diana

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Absolutely! We are working on several incredible products that we will be launching in 2021, including a new to market product launch: the Watermelon Probiotic Underarm Toner.

Underarm toning has so many incredible benefits. Not only does it reduce body odor, but it eliminates bacteria, gently cleanses the skin, protects against environmental aggressors, and maintains the skin’s pH. The Watermelon Probiotic Toner is formulated with rose water, ylang ylang water, lemon, aloe, Vitamin E, Vitamin A, and more for a divine smell and soothing feel. Additionally, the product is filled with probiotics and lactic acid to kill bacteria and keep skin moisturized. As the first product of its kind, your armpit care will never be the same.

Our goal is to help everyone feel alive, confident and healthy inside and out. Loving yourself and being comfortable in your skin is what it’s all about. — Alexandra

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?

We absolutely agree with that. We are a mother-daughter team. We truly carry each other and support each other. We always say that we would never get to where we are today if we didn’t have each other’s back. — Diana and Alexandra

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

One percent of all of our online sales are donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital every month. This is something that is near and dear to both of our hearts. — Diana and Alexandra

Ok thank you for that. Let’s now pivot to the main parts of our interview. How do you define a family business? How is a family business different from a regular business?

We are truly, by definition, a family business — mother and daughter founded, owned, and created. We have a tremendous amount of trust and honesty with each other. Neither one of us is afraid to voice our opinions or concerns and we work hand-in-hand on every aspect of the business. We have very clear and honest lines of communication that have been built for many years as a family. In our opinion, it is extremely beneficial to the success of a business. — Diana and Alexandra

In your opinion or experience, what are the unique advantages that family owned businesses have?

Some unique advantages that family-owned businesses have are elements of trust, defined goals of success, understanding, having each other’s back, similar beliefs and a clear vision for the business. — Diana and Alexandra

What are the unique drawbacks or blindspots that family owned businesses have?

We are very fortunate that we truly haven’t experienced any drawbacks. We would assume that one of the drawbacks could be that a business relationship can cross over to a personal relationship, sometimes not in the healthiest of ways. Fortunately, we are both very good at separating the two, even if we have a disagreement. Also, for me, as a mother working with my daughter, I knew early on that we are equal business partners and I can never pull the “mother knows best” card. — Diana

What are some of the common mistakes you have seen family businesses make? What would you recommend to avoid those errors?

Some common mistakes we’ve seen are blurring the lines between personal and business lives, disrespecting each other, pulling the “age” card, thinking that other family members can pick up your slack, etc. I think that you need to treat your family members exactly the same way as you would treat any non-family partner. This way, you can have a flourishing business with an additional benefit of absolute trust. — Diana

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders of family businesses to help their employees to thrive?

My biggest piece of advice is to hire good people. Don’t just hire people that look good on paper — really put a lot of time and effort into hiring employees that are aligned with your vision, goal, ethics, etc. Then, trust these people, let them flourish, and make your business better in ways that you may not have thought of. — Diana

How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean with a story or example?

To me, leadership is being very clear on your intentions and goals. Leadership is knowing how to delegate, to whom, and when. Leadership is trusting the people you chose to work for you and giving them room and the opportunity to grow. — Diana

Here is our main question. What are the “5 Things You Need To Run A Highly Successful Family Business”? Please share a story or example for each.

1). Respect. Don’t treat the family members you are working with as family while at work. Think of each one as a partner completely unrelated to you.

2) Trust. You chose to be in a family-run business. Trust that each family member will do their job well. Try not to control them.

3) Don’t ever pull the “age” card with your family members. That is always a recipe for disaster.

4) Make sure you have the same vision for the business. Oftentimes, when family members are in business together, they seemingly want the same things for their business. But, if you dig deeper, there may be a huge disconnect in goals, intentions, and visions for the company.

5) Clear and open channels of communication are crucial. Families have their own way of communicating and sometimes, it is not always the best way. Being straightforward and honest, yet, being able to listen and take in the other person’s opinion is extremely important. If something is not working, don’t let it fester and affect your business. Address it as soon as possible, in the most respectful way possible. — Diana and Alexandra

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite life lesson quote is: “some people come into your life as blessings, others come into your life as lessons. Both are equally important.” It takes a while to really understand how accurate and important this truth is. But, when you do, you’ll never look at your life the same. — Diana

We are very blessed that some of the biggest 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 :-)

Absolutely. For me, it’s Oprah Winfrey. She has been a tremendous influence in my life for many years. I think of her as my virtual mentor. — Diana

For me, it’s Sara Blakely. I would absolutely love to meet her. She is incredibly smart, successful, real, and has such a fun personality. — Alexandra

If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

If we could inspire a movement of anything, it would be clean living. This encompasses clean eating, clean beauty products, practicing meditation and mindfulness, and much more. — DS & AB

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Our website: www.BellaSkinBeauty.com

Instagram: @Bella.Skin.Beauty

YouTube: Bella Skin Beauty — Every Tuesday, we come out with a new episode of our Wellness Vlog “Two Are Better Than One.” We talk about all things skincare, health, wellness, recipes, tips and tricks, and much more!

Facebook: @bellaskinbeauty1

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.