Crafting Your Way from Maker to Business Magnate with Jaime Schmidt of Schmidt’s Naturals

Entrepreneur and investor, Jaime Schmidt, is the founder of Schmidt’s Naturals, the natural personal care brand she started in her kitchen that was later acquired by Unilever. Known for bringing natural personal care products to the mainstream market, Jaime led Schmidt’s Natural’s growth into a global household brand sold in over 30 countries and 30,000 retailers. Jaime shares her entrepreneurial journey in her book Supermaker: Crafting Business on Your Own Terms. Since the breakthrough of Schmidt’s Naturals, Jaime has been enabling other entrepreneurs to bring their vision into reality by investing in women and people of color through her inclusive investment firm, Color. Jaime joins us today to discuss how she approached her venture one day at a time and to share what she learned from her transition from being a solo founder to being part of the Unilever family. She explains why going to market without a perfect product is feasible and reveals her biggest takeaways from the supply sourcing and wholesaling processes. She also underscores why a lack of fear is a priceless advantage in starting your business and highlights the importance of diversity and inclusion when financially supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs. “It’s important to know what you’re getting into when starting a business, but obsessing over every detail can be an obstacle. Trust your intuition, listen to your customers, and embrace every opportunity.” - Jaime Schmidt This week on the Entreprenista Podcast: How a hobby Jaime started in her kitchen became a personal care companyThe steps Jaime took after realizing the business opportunity in her home-made personal care productsWhy Jaime is a proponent of bootstrapping and not bringing in capital if it’s not neededThe challenges of bootstrapping and how Jaime made her first hireJaime’s product development process and how she sourced suppliers for her ingredientsBuilding loyalty and connection and why it’s important to be upfront with customersHow Schmidt’s Naturals got into large retailers like Target and WalmartThe value of working with a broker and how Jaime found the first production space for her companyWhy paying employees is one of the trickiest parts of running a bootstrap businessThe reason Jaime didn’t outsource manufacturing at first and how she grew her company without an official business planGiving up control and other things Jaime had to learn as she moved to UnileverPutting diversity at the forefront of funding companiesJaime’s mentorship role in Going Public and how long it took her to write SupermakerWhat Jaime wishes she knew when she first started her businessWhy entrepreneurs shouldn’t get hung up on credentials, and other tips on pitching to investors Our Favorite Quotes: “Bootstrapping means recycling profits back into the business and being conscious about how you spend your dollars.” - Jaime Schmidt“Once you feel like your product is ‘good enough,’ get it out there because it’s still going to evolve.” - Jaime Schmidt“Sometimes, the less you know, the better equipped you are. If I had known back then what I know now, I think I would have been too scared to start.” - Jaime Schmidt Connect with Jaime Schmidt: Schmidt's NaturalsSupermakerColorBook: Supermaker: Crafting Business On Your Own TermsSchmidt's Naturals on LinkedInSchmidt's Naturals on InstagramSchmidt's Naturals on FacebookSchmidt's Naturals on TwitterSchmidt’s Naturals on YouTubeJaime Schmidt on LinkedInJaime Schmidt on InstagramJaime Schmidt on Twitter Join the Entreprenista League! Hey Entreprenistas! We’re launching the Entreprenista League, our very own members platform and community just for you!