Laney Crowell (Saie Beauty) on Raising Her First $1 Million, Building a Top Sephora Brand, and Magazine Culture

What started as Laney Crowell's passion for magazines, beauty, and storytelling became Saie Beauty, one of the fastest-growing clean beauty brands in the world and a standout success story at Sephora. In this episode, Laney joins Sammi to share how she went from working in editorial and at Estée Lauder to raising her first million dollars with no fundraising experience, launching Saie just months before the pandemic, and turning an early rejection from Sephora into a nationwide launch. She explains why she wanted Saie to be a top 10 Sephora brand from day one and the tactical fundraising lessons she wishes every founder knew. Plus, she opens up about the realities of leading a fast-growing company, the trade-offs of building her dream business while raising two children, and what still keeps her up at night as CEO. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Follow what Laney is working on with Saie Here's What Sammi Covers with Laney: 00:00 Laney Crowell's Social Currency 02:00 Feeling Like She Was Meant to Be a Founder 06:34 Why Resilience Is a Founder's Greatest Skill 08:00 Storytelling as a Competitive Advantage 12:51 Fundraising Without Any Experience 14:21 The Power of "Expanders" 16:21 Raising Her First $1 Million 17:23 Why Every "No" Gets You Closer to a "Yes" 18:30 Perfecting the Pitch One Meeting at a Time 19:47 Building Saie to Be a Top Sephora Brand 21:03 Why Investors Bet on Founders, Not Ideas 23:52 Sephora's First Rejection 26:22 The Call That Changed Everything 28:18 Launching Through COVID 29:24 Building a Beauty Brand During a Downturn 31:21 The Three Most Important Early Hires 34:37 How Laney Hires Great People 36:13 Why Sustainability Has to Be Built Into the Business 41:16 What Actually Brings Customers to Saie 42:07 Staying Focused in a Crowded Industry 43:39 What Keeps Laney Up at Night 45:46 Why Community Is Beauty's Most Misused Buzzword 47:33 Creating Value Beyond the Product 48:28 Why Founder-Led Content Matters More Than Ever 49:45 The Trade-Offs of Building a Dream Company 51:05 Laney's Biggest Pinch-Me Moment Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices