Female Founders: Emily Bowman of Lovesong Beauty On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Stay positive. There are moments when you feel like your business is not as successful as you may have hoped, but I’ve found that shortly after a big break will happen, and it reminds me to stay positive.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Emily Bowman.

Emily, founder of Lovesong Beauty, worked in the natural foods industry for over 15 years before starting her hair care (and soon to be body care) company that is inspired by the beauty found in nature. Lovesong Beauty’s novel formulas are natural, vegan, cruelty free, non-GMO, and made with wind energy. As part of their commitment to the planet, they source sustainable packaging options like glass and aluminum bottles, and donate a percentage of every sale to preserve and protect wild spaces.

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?

Consuming natural products is something that is in my family’s DNA, something we have always done as long as I can remember! And, with my career in the natural foods industry, I am extremely passionate about making better choices for the future of our planet. I’ve also had the opportunity to work for inspiring, private, family-owned businesses within natural foods, and maintained a goal to create a company of my own that my daughter could be involved with someday. A personal passion of mine is all things beauty-related: skincare, hair care, body care — you name it. Through a personal quest to find the most luxurious and effective natural beauty products, I realized there was a gap in the marketplace for natural hair care products that work as well (or better) than conventional alternatives. Limited offerings and less than ideal performance sparked my curiosity, led to years of research, and ultimately to the passion and launch of Lovesong Beauty.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

Talk about interesting… in some ways, I look back and think we faced almost every obstacle a new business could face. Lovesong launched during the height of the pandemic. We found out there was a typo on the front of one of our labels after final production, needed to source a new packaging option due to technical issues; faced lengthy delays due to supply chain issues, and had to push the timing of our new item launches by months. Basically, every day brings something new that you cannot prepare for. But days with not-so-great news are often followed by days with amazing news (and support from our community), and that keeps us motivated and inspired.

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?

As I just mentioned, probably the typo. I proofed our box design thoroughly, but didn’t catch that Nurture was spelled Nuture on the bottle labels. We brainstormed if we could keep the labels… like a combination of nature and nurture, or nurture and suture, but realized the answer was undoubtedly “no.”

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?

People would call me nuts to start a company during the middle of a pandemic with my husband, but that is exactly what we did, and we are still married. My husband (Matthew Bowman) is very involved with Lovesong Beauty (as our CEO) and generally handles everything that I don’t want to do — like finances. I am thankful that he believes in me, and my business ideas, and is willing to invest our savings.

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 see a direct correlation between the underrepresentation of women in executive roles and female founders. I believe this stems from a variety of reasons, but a big one is our commitment to family/work/life balance. High-level jobs and founding businesses require a significant time commitment in the form of hours and energy. I have a 3-year-old and at times it can feel like a struggle to balance being a good mother, employee, and founder. My hope is that I am setting an example for my daughter that with hard work you can achieve your dreams. Additionally, businesses that are ready to take-on investors may face challenges if founded by a woman. Only 2.7% of VC capital went to female-founded businesses in 2019. Even if you are lucky enough to receive funding, the expectations and support you receive following the investment may look disparagingly different for women vs. male counterparts.

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?

We need to encourage young girls to have BIG dreams. We need to empower our female friends, family, and colleagues to take risks and believe in success. I guarantee that there is nothing all-that-special about a TON of successful male founders other than the fact that they tried and were determined to succeed. We need to start having these dreams as women much earlier in life too. And for those that can help and support female founders, just know that the investment is worthwhile. Fortune 1000 companies with female CEO’s have been found to perform 3x as well as those led by men.

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? Every investment we make into empowering women uplifts humanity. It’s morally imperative. Gender equality will lead to better health and wealth in societies.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

You do not need to be Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos to start a company; anyone with passion and determination can start a business. Take me, for example — I have no formal hair training and I am not a chemist. I launched a hair care brand with super-cool vegan, plant-based formulas that boost scalp and hair health. This is possible thanks to research, determination, and passion. And you can do it too!

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?

I believe that anyone can achieve dreams through hard work and perseverance. When problems arise, those problems are on you to figure out plus cover the expense. It’s kind of like owning a home.

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.)

1. Estimate that it will cost double what you initially budgeted to launch a business. Real facts.
2. Expect to do a lot of the preliminary work on your own with the help of Google. One example is that we hired someone to help build-out our website, but realized quickly that we would probably be better off just building it ourselves. I built our website, and I am so happy that I invested this time because website changes are needed on a regular basis and I do not have to wait for a developer to make these changes. I just pop in there and take care of it myself.
3. The most complicated things you will tackle are the back end of Facebook and (maybe) Amazon Seller Central (if you decide to list your products on Amazon). Again, real facts. These systems are not user-intuitive and require a lot of patience and time investment to understand, not to mention the consistent errors that happen and need to be resolved.
4. You will make friends. This was something that I didn’t expect. Female founders in the beauty industry found Lovesong on social media and connected. We ended up running joint giveaways, stayed in touch, and they have truly supported my new business journey (and even introduced me to new retailers).
5. Stay positive. There are moments when you feel like your business is not as successful as you may have hoped, but I’ve found that shortly after a big break will happen, and it reminds me to stay positive.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

Kindness; for each other, for our planet, and in every decision that we make. I truly believe that kindness is contagious.

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.

The conservation and preservation of our planet through focuses on sustainable agriculture, clean energy, and conscious consumption.

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 so many amazing women in business and beauty that I would like to meet, but top of the list is Nadine Artemis — founder of Living Libations. She posted a short video to social media hula hooping, and I could literally watch that video all day. She is unequivocally true to herself and her passion, with nature as her teacher. Read the ingredient label on any Living Libations product to find natural beauty inspiration.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.