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I have two beauty brands. The first, Elizabeth Mott, sells Korean cosmetics. Being Korean-American, I grew up seeing amazing Korean skincare and beauty products. I decided to reimagine them for the American consumer, starting with mascara and eye makeup. Elizabeth Mott was started in 2010 and named in honor of our first studio, on Elizabeth and Mott Streets in New York’s SoHo district.

Six years later, after my husband Vira and I moved from New York to Hawaii, where he grew up, we launched a second company, Hanalei. It is a Hawaiian skincare company that uses island-derived ingredients for efficacious skincare formulas.

People say a crisis kick starts entrepreneurship, and it definitely did for us. I was in the fashion industry and my husband worked on Wall Street. Then the 2008 recession hit. We weren’t unhappy where we were, but both of us were entrepreneurial and wanted to do something on our own. We bootstrapped Elizabeth Mott. In the beginning, Vira and I did everything. This was before Instagram, K-Beauty, before social media took off. Plus, there are tons of challenges creating a business in the fiftieth state and on an island. We have grown slowly, and while we are not yet in major distribution channels like Target, we do quite well on Amazon. There are ways to succeed without having to be in every single Sephora or Ulta store.

There’s a lot of paperwork involved in selling internationally. It takes a lot of time, and there are international laws and a lot of third party agencies and processes involved. For example, if you’re a cosmetics company that wants to sell products to Japan, you have to go through their regulatory process. Hanalei has a catalogue of thirty products, but I’ve only been able to register three of them in Japan because it takes so long to process, approve, and then they want us to change certain ingredients.

Thankfully, Hanalei has been able to sell wholesale through duty free stores, airline partnerships, and international shopping centers. The duty-free stores in Hawaii did so well we opened duty-free stores in Guam and Okinawa. Of course, everything changed after the pandemic; economies went sideways in the worst possible way. But we were born digitally native, so our core business has always been online.

At first, we had no intention of taking Elizabeth Mott international. But when you start a business, the way you think it’s going to turn out, and how it actually turns out, are completely different. In the beginning, I wanted to sell just enough to have a comfortable lifestyle. But now, through online channels like Amazon, we sell to the European Union, the Middle East, and other regions. Today, most of my 27-member team resides in Korea, Pakistan, and the Philippines. We produce all Elizabeth Mott products in Korea.

On the other hand, we did apply what we learned from six years of running Elizabeth Mott to Hanalei. The direct-to-consumer cosmetic industry is like fast fashion in that people are always looking for new and different products. We wanted Hanalei to expose people worldwide to Hawaiian ingredients like kukui oil, papaya enzymes, and a specific aloe vera from the islands.

My advice is to first build a track record in your home market. We never actively sought out international agencies or distributors. They came to us because we had a track record. But it’s not easy selling abroad, at least the way we’ve set up our business, which is very bootstrapped and scrappy. That’s why trade councils are very helpful. They offer a lot of resources. Trade shows are important, too, and probably the easiest way to gain a lot of international exposure in one space. It’s also about referrals and networking. I now have a team that helps me with that, but in the beginning, I flew everywhere to meet with people. I still do that, but back then, we did everything ourselves to save money and prolong the opportunity to network.

People assume that I am an expert in this industry, but I’m not a chemist and I didn’t work in the cosmetics industry. It is definitely possible to create a business that you are not an expert in, especially with direct-to-consumer, the internet, and other nontraditional platforms. Still, it takes the same grit, determination, and hard work. You have to be creative, adaptable, and scrappy.

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AnaOno is a lingerie line of chest-inclusive intimates. We say: “one boob, two boobs, no boobs, or new boobs, we’re here to support you.” While our designs are mostly for those who have undergone chest surgeries related to a cancer diagnosis, we also support customers ranging from adaptive needs to gender-affirming surgeries, or people living with extreme chronic pain and suffering where traditional underwire bras are unsuitable for their everyday lifestyles.

I started AnaOno in my twenties, after I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I felt like I was catapulted into a world designed for a more mature woman than I was at that point in my life. I wanted to feel good, feel feminine, and feel like myself, but wearing an underwire bra was practically impossible. Plus, I did not want to adorn the lovely Jacquard-polyester material of a “grandma bra”. Finding an underwire-free bra that fit my body but didn’t cause pain or suffering or itchiness, or was made of bad materials, was, and still is, tricky. AnaOno was born out of wanting to feel good and look good. We’re celebrating ten years in business this year!

I’ve been a fashion designer since I was eight years old. My grandmother taught me to sew. I love to sew. I started making my own jewelry and clothing when I was a small kid. My mom still has the embarrassing sketch books to prove it! I knew enough to be dangerous, but not enough to be smart, so I studied fashion design at Savannah College of Art and Design. I love having my own brand. I love having my own business. I’m passionate about supporting other people, especially women and women’s healthcare.

As we know, breast cancer is not a disease that only happens in the United States. Early on, I learned just how limited access is for patients around the globe. Health insurance is quite different worldwide. Some countries provide allowances to get breast forms and bras after mastectomy surgery and some don’t. Intimate apparel companies don’t typically carry mastectomy bras or bras designed for people undergoing chest surgeries.

When you’re a small company, you have limited resources, and shipping overseas can be tricky and difficult. For example, you can lose a lot of packages. Or people are surprised by duties and customs costs and don’t want to pay the tax bill when the product arrives at their front door. But I believe that you should be able to get what you need, where you need it. Over the years, we’ve made great strides as far as improving shipping costs and access are concerned. I proud to say we have shipped at least one bra to most countries worldwide.

You can’t expand beyond borders without doing your research. Whether you are founded in the EU, the US, or in Canada, you’re going to encounter different laws and regulations for exporting goods. It’s not just a flip of a switch; you have to be mindful about your overall strategy. Know your target markets and how easily you can get into them. Plan entry into your target markets as phase one, phase two, phase three, etc. Often it’s easy to ship between the United States and Canada—doesn’t make it cheap, but it’s easier. You will also encounter language barriers in certain countries, so make sure you are hosted on a website that can convert and translate.

My advice for entrepreneurs is this: we need you, the world needs you, we are inventive and inspiring individuals who want to change the world. But be sure that you are really, truly passionate about what it is that you are embarking on, and plan for the future.

Very important questions to ask yourself early in your journey are about your business case, your target market, and how you are going to fund, grow, and scale your business. Plan for the good, the bad, and the ugly. None of us could have planned for a global pandemic that shifted the way we did business. There’s always going to be an unknown, so be prepared and willing to jump on that ship and ride it, no matter where it takes you.

I used to say cancer was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life, and now I can say that running a business is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. But I knew that no matter what, I was going to make this product, even if it meant coming home after work and sewing them one at a time. Others like me needed something to help them feel good so they could heal, focus on their life, and get back to normal.