The Startup CPG Podcast

Jilleo Recio
I've always been fascinated with skincare and just beauty in general. It's been part of my life, and so I really wanted to put all my life experiences in this bottle, right? It's like, how can I, like, share my experiences of my travel, the people, the culture that I've encountered and got to experience? And I wanted to make it personal. And for me, that was the most rewarding part of the job, was just seeing everyone just celebrating their culture, the diversity of the people. That, to me, was the most beautiful part about my job. And so I really wanted to bring that to life, let people see their true beauty. That's when I started thinking about regents, is how can I not have people feel so inferior to their skin color?

00:54
Grace Kennedy
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the startup CPG podcast. This is Grace, and I am back with another founder feature, talking to Gillio Resio, the founder of Regions. Regions is a luxury, well, aging skincare brand that champions all skin tones. Their all encompassing serum was actually our 2024 Shelfie Award Skincare winner, and all of the judges were truly obsessed with this product, and we may have shed a few tears when we finished the bottle. The all encompassing serum is infused with nutrient rich botanicals and peptides that help hydrate the skin, improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and even out skin tone. I love what Giulio is building with regions, and I cannot wait for you all to hear about all of the ups and downs that has come in the process of creating this beautiful brand.

01:47
Grace Kennedy
I hope you enjoy the episode, and as always, let me know what you think. Boop, boop.

01:53
Jilleo Recio
Boop.

01:54
Speaker 3
Everybody, please join me in celebrate. Our podcast has become the number one CPG podcast in the world. We are a top 0.5% ranked world podcast. This is amazing. And it's largely because of your reviews that we did it this week. Moji Masala said the insights from this podcast are helping us build initiatives at new retailers. I just saw the merchandise on the counter at Citarella, so I think they're doing something right, Green Cross said. This is the single best resource we have as an emerging brand. Ralph Laver said, this podcast is how I cut down my learning curve. Thank you guys so much. If you can please leave us a review, I will try to shout it out here on the podcast. You can go to ratethispodcast.com startupcpg, the links in the show notes. Thank you, everybody.

02:40
Grace Kennedy
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the startup CPG podcast. Today, I am so excited to be joined by Gillio Riccio the founder of Regions Skincare. Regions is a luxury well aging skincare brand, and their all encompassing serum recently won a 2024 Shelfies award. I loved using their all encompassing serum. I recently ran out and was very sad, but it truly is what the name suggests, which is I used it in the morning, I used it at night, and I feel like it made my skin just glowy and I felt beautiful. But welcome to the sewage Leo. I'd love for you to introduce yourself and regions of.

03:21
Jilleo Recio
Hi, thanks, Grace. Yes, my name is Gillio, and I am the founder of Regents. Regents is a luxury well aging skin care designed for maturing, melanin rich skin. I'm really excited to be here and talk to you more about the brand.

03:36
Grace Kennedy
Yes, I'm so excited to learn more. So, first and foremost, what led you to create regions, and why did you decide that the world needed this product?

03:46
Jilleo Recio
Yeah. The origin behind regions. Well, take a step back just to kind of give you a background. I was born and raised in the US, and I had the opportunity in 2018 to live and work abroad in Singapore. So while I was in Singapore, I was working at an influencer marketing agency, and then later on a music record label company. And in my role, I was a business development manager. And part of my job was to negotiate brand deals for the influencers as well as the recording music artists. And a lot of the brands that actually fell onto my lap were these beauty brands. And in Asia, there is this, for lack of better words, I don't know how to describe it. I would say, like, obsession with, like, skin lightening and skin whitening.

04:37
Jilleo Recio
And for me, coming from the US, it was so, I guess, unique or different. Like, I couldn't really understand why people wanted to, like, change the color of their skin. And it was some of those things I would see quite often. And I wanted to, you know, flip that narrative because in my part of my role at my job was being able to travel across all these countries. So while I was living there, I also had the opportunity to travel across all over Southeast Asia and really got to experience the culture, the people. And for me, that was the most rewarding part of the job, was just seeing everyone, you know, just, you know, celebrating, you know, their culture, the diversity of the people. That, to me, was, like, the most beautiful part about my job.

05:24
Jilleo Recio
And so I really wanted to, you know, bring that to life, like, let people see their true beauty, you know? And so that's when I started thinking about regents, is like, how can I not have people feel so, I guess, inferior to their skin color. And that got me thinking. And I myself, I'm a skincare enthusiast. That's just been part of my life growing up. I've always been into skincare. And so one of the things that I also noticed that was quite popular in Asia was this whole 10, 12, 15 step skincare routine. And in my job, I was always traveling, and so I was packing up all my skincare products, and for me, that felt like it was just not efficient.

06:11
Jilleo Recio
I remember one time when I was in Bangkok, I was there for work, and one of the expensive creams that I bought had, like, fallen, and I felt so, you know, like, heartbroken because it was an expensive bottle, you know, and there was just, like, I was, like, thinking to myself, okay, there's got to be, like, easier way to do this. And so that's what kind of, like, helped got me thinking about regions, was kind of create something that was, you know, that celebrates our natural skin tone, our heritage, our culture. At the same time having it be super, like, efficient. And that's kind of, like, what got me thinking about the brand and the product.

06:47
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I love that mission, and it's definitely something that we don't see so explicitly stated. I feel like, of, like, skincare that celebrates. We see, like, beauty brands. I feel makeup brands that are celebrating, you know, a wider range of skin tones. But I think we see that less with beauty brands, or at least in my, you know, limited experience. And you're Filipino yourself, correct?

07:11
Jilleo Recio
Yes, I'm Filipino, yeah.

07:13
Grace Kennedy
So I imagine it's also personal for you as well in this experience.

07:18
Jilleo Recio
Yeah, I think, you know, a lot of. I'm sure a lot of, you know, asian people like me or, you know, just Asians in general can attest it is that, like, especially in the filipino culture, I feel like growing up Filipino, a lot of Filipinos can attest to this, is that when you were kids, like, you know, our parents had always say, like, don't go out in the sun. You're gonna get dark. You know, like, you know, make sure, you know, you cover your face and things like that. It was just, like, can be really, like, it can be very absurd. So. So I just really wanted, you know, I really wanted to create a product that just champions our heritage, our culture, and our natural skin shade. So with our serum, you know, there's no, like, bleaching or whitening ingredients at all.

08:03
Jilleo Recio
So that's what I really wanted to put out there.

08:08
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, I love that. And I'm sure many people can relate to that experience, even across, you know, ethnicities and races. One question I had, I mean, I have a lot of questions, actually, but one of my first questions is also about the name regions. Obviously, it's pronounced like regions, r e g I o n s, but not spelled that way, spelled r e j I n s. So I was curious what the inspiration behind the name was and how you landed on that.

08:36
Jilleo Recio
Yeah, it's really interesting. So regions. Yes, it's my take on the word regions. And it was inspired just, again, for my love of travel, again, visiting all these countries while I was living in Asia. And so I really wanted to put all my life experiences, like, in this bottle. Right. It's like, how do I, how can I, like, share my experiences of my travel, the people, the culture that I've encountered and got to experience? And I wanted to make it personal. So Regen's actually the first four letters, re, is from my last name, recio and Ji from Gillio. And so I wanted to just kind of marry the two. And that's how regents came to be.

09:22
Grace Kennedy
That's so sweet. And now it's making me think of, before we got on this call, Julia was talking about how their name is a combination of your parents name. Right, or your parents names, Jill and Leo. Yeah. So you kind of took that same inspo, but for your brand baby, not a human baby.

09:42
Jilleo Recio
Exactly. Exactly.

09:44
Grace Kennedy
I love it. That's really sweet. So another question I had, which obviously so many founders have, is you have this idea, right? You're like, okay, I want to create a skincare product that celebrates melanated skin tones. That is more, you know, all purpose is not like 15,000 different steps. So you have this idea. What were your next steps to actually making it happen?

10:06
Jilleo Recio
So while I was in Singapore, when I had this idea, again, while I was living and working there, I had no idea how to bring it to life, really. Ive always been fascinated with skincare and just beauty in general. Its just been part of my life, but I didnt know how to go about into making it happen. So I just went on Google one day, and I just googled, you know, building a skincare brand or, you know, skincare ingredients for melanin rich skin. And it just so happened that one of the search results that popped up was this trade show called in cosmetics, and it was in Seoul, Korea. And I had no idea what to do, but I thought I would just go, you know, just visit the show.

10:58
Jilleo Recio
And so I looked on the website, and it just so happened that at that time when I was searching that the event was going to be like, I think it was maybe like a month out. So I said, you know what, I'll just give it a shot. I don't really know what to expect. Let me just book my ticket and just go. So I booked my ticket. Well, I first purchased a ticket for the trade show and then I bought my ticket to Seoul and I just began just researching from there. I went on the website and there was a section where you can book meetings with the ingredient suppliers and everything. But they were asking a lot of questions like, oh, what is your company name, your company address? How many products do you have?

11:44
Jilleo Recio
Are you looking all these questions as if I was an actual brand, which I didn't have yet. So I just made up a fake company name. I think I called it something very generic, like junior skincare. You know, it was just like basically my initials.

12:01
Grace Kennedy
Yeah.

12:02
Jilleo Recio
And then I proceeded to, like, make fake business cards with that junior skincare company name. And I would then just start reaching out to, I looked at who was going to be there at this trade show and I looked at, you know, what their offerings were and I just started to set up meetings with them. So I just cold outreach, cold email them and say, hey, my name is Shilio, I'm the founder of Junior Skincare. Would love to meet with you. And they actually replied and I actually got a meeting with them. And so when I went to the trade show, I actually had meetings with these ingredient suppliers and manufacturers as well.

12:45
Jilleo Recio
And that from there, I just sort of, like, you know, talked to them, just began networking, made some contacts, didn't, again, didn't really know what I was doing, but I was just kind of going with the flow and. Yeah, and then I ended up finding a contract manufacturer there that said that they would work with me. And we just began, you know, exchanging information and I, I told them what my vision was and from there they created some samples for me. And then, of course, like, the pandemic happened because this was, like, around, I forgot to tell you, this was like around 2019, and then the pandemic was again, like in 2020. So that kind of threw things through. Things off. Yeah.

13:33
Grace Kennedy
So when did you get back to it? When the pandemic. After the pandemic threw things off?

13:37
Jilleo Recio
Yeah, so when the pandemic hit, didn't really know what I was going to do at that point because I was in Asia, I was in Singapore and my family's in the US, and so I, you know, I didn't it was like a very. There's a lot of uncertainties. I was, everyone was afraid, of course. You know, you watch the news and you hear all these deaths. And one of the things that really scared me was that how a lot of, like, elderly people were dying from COVID So my parents are elderly. And so that kind of shook me. So I then decided to leave and come back to the US to be closer to family just because I wasn't sure what was going to happen and I just wanted to be around in case anything did happen.

14:23
Jilleo Recio
So that propelled me back to the US in 2020. And from there, you know, I had to put basically, life was like just put on pause. And so from there, you know, it became. I kind of fell into, like, a really dark place because I came in and, you know, I was totally in isolation, couldn't go out, had very limited contact with family. And so it kind of put me in this dark place and I didn't have any, like, you know, friends that I could, like, you know, meet and talk to you, really. It's been so long since I've been back in the US. And so I just talked to my brother, and my brother was the one that really inspired me to continue working on this project.

15:04
Jilleo Recio
So during the pandemic, I just started working on the things that I could work on, like, you know, like the branding, the copy, things like that. And I just kind of did that while I was in lockdown, basically.

15:18
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's an experience so many founders can probably share, is so many people started things either before the pandemic or right at the beginning of the pandemic, and we're just sort of forced to slow down and work on the things they could because, yeah, so much was not available to work on.

15:37
Jilleo Recio
Yeah.

15:38
Grace Kennedy
So, yeah, I think that everybody can probably relate in some way or another, but once, so you were figuring out the branding, you had this contact with the contract manufacturer. Did you end up going back to that same person once you were able to?

15:54
Jilleo Recio
Yeah, that's a good question. So I did, actually. And. But I wasn't sure what was happening at their company because I noticed that there were a lot of delays and responses from them. So, like, they weren't responding on time and I wasn't sure if they were still in business. So that also kind of threw a curveball because I had done all this work right in 2019, and I felt like I had to start over again. And then there was the issue with supply chain. Lots of companies were having issues with things not arriving on time, lots of delays. And so because my contacts were overseas and I was in the US now, and the time difference, it just made it really complicated. So I actually had to pivot. I had to find another contract manufacturer.

16:44
Jilleo Recio
And that's, I would say that's one of the hardest parts, especially being a small brand, is because when you are dealing with contract manufacturers, it's the Moqs that will get you. I'm sure you know this, and you talk to a lot of founders, too, like, you know, especially, like, in beauty. I mean, some of the Moqs are like 10,000, 20,000.

17:07
Grace Kennedy
Oh, my God.

17:08
Jilleo Recio
It's just something that I could just not do right at my current stage, being a small, really small brand. But, you know, I didn't let that stop me. I had this idea. I was so passionate about it. I really wanted to, you know, bring it to life because I'd done all this work. And so I wanted to make sure that I see it through. And so finding the contract manufacturer also took, I would say, probably about, like, another year, you know, and if I look back on it and I spoke with so many, you know, contract manufacturers, and these were all, like, through, like, you know, Zoom and everything, you know, and so getting them, you know, to get on a meeting was also tough. And, you know, so there's a lot of, like, there were a lot of challenges.

17:52
Jilleo Recio
But what I learned in that process is when I did, you know, get in touch with some of these manufacturers that, like, had high moqs, I just asked them, look, you know, you are, like, the 10th hundredth person I've spoken to that are telling me, like, you know, you need, like, 10,000, 20,000 moqs. Is there anyone that you know, in your network that can work with a brand of my size? And so there was actually one contract manufacturer that referred me to an industry friend of theirs that then was able to work with my low moqs.

18:28
Grace Kennedy
So, yeah, it's such a common problem, and it's so challenging because it's so expensive to put in such a large order.

18:36
Jilleo Recio
And, yeah, I was gonna say, like, you know, also being a new brand, there's no guarantee that I'm gonna be able to, like, push, you know, all that inventory, so.

18:45
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, right. It would be so much inventory to sit on and just, like, have in your house or something. Where would you store it all? But I love that, too, that you were just asking for referrals as well, because if you don't ask, you don't know. And sometimes.

18:58
Jilleo Recio
Exactly.

18:58
Grace Kennedy
Some of the places that do work with smaller brands because they're not big, they're not as easy to find because they're not necessarily going to come up first on your search and things like that. So, yeah, I love that you were just asking for referrals. So you finally found a manufacturer that could work with you. And you guys, did you start collaborating on sending samples back and forth? Did you have to kind of start over from what you had created back in 2019?

19:21
Jilleo Recio
Yeah, I did. So while I was in Singapore, I was also working with a chemist there as well. And so they were helping me come up with the formula. And so I was like, you know, I was, you know, I did my research. I knew what ingredients I loved. I knew what ingredients I looked for when I buy these products. And so I had this idea of like, okay, I know what ingredients I want in my product. And I was working with a chemist again back in Singapore, but then again, things shifted, and so I had to start from scratch. But I had the list of ingredients. I had some concept, right?

19:55
Jilleo Recio
And so the other thing I had to do was also find a canvas because what was important to me was that I own the formula and so that I have the, I own the IP, right. So that was important to me. So before finding the manufacturer, actually, I was also looking for a chemist as well to kind of help finish what was started. And that also took a long time because I made so many mistakes, I think. I don't know. There was this one chemist that I was working with, and the samples that she gave me were just so bad. I mean, I would get samples that were the formula, the color would change, you know, the product would, like, separate. Some of it just smelled really awful. And so, you know, that really also was, like something I had to overcome, you know?

20:49
Jilleo Recio
And I think, you know, going through that, there were lots of times where I felt like giving up because I was like, I don't know if I can do this. Like, this is like, what am I even doing? Self doubt just starts to creep into your head. But I was like, you know what? I'm not going to give up. I just kept moving forward. And so I said, okay. One of the things I had to remind myself was that in this whole process, I had to keep reminding myself, this is not a race. It's a journey. It's not a race. There's no deadline, really, that I'm trying to meet. If it's going to take this amount of time, but I wanted to make sure I did it right. So I made sure that I researched the chemist this time around.

21:32
Jilleo Recio
I wanted to make sure that I could get some sort, I could see some of the testimonials, things like that, just to make sure that this person is reputable, that they can be trusted. And so I did finally find one after, again, months of searching. And it was that chemist that I worked with was the one that helped me bring the all encompassing serum to life.

21:57
Grace Kennedy
Yeah. And that makes so much sense. And sometimes you think someone looks great and super talented and then turns out, you know, not the one, and you have to kind of go back to the drawing board. But something I'd love to hear a little bit about, maybe for the people among us or people who are listening, who are not skincare junkies, if you will. Could you tell us a little bit about what on compassing serum is and why you chose the ingredients you did?

22:25
Jilleo Recio
Yeah. So all encompassing serum is a multitasking serum. So again, going back to the whole idea of having just a streamlined skincare routine, not having so many steps. So I launched the all encompassing serum to help just again, streamline your skincare ritual specifically around, well, aging, because I myself am in my forties and I wanted something that addresses a lot of skin concerns of people around my age, which are like fine lines and wrinkles, dryness and even skin tone. So the ingredients that you'll find in all encompassing serum, you'll find peptides. Peptides are really great at stimulating collagen. And you'll also have ingredients to help even out skin tone. So like niacinamide and licorice root. And for the hydration part, because as we get older, our skin tends to get drier, especially for melanin rich skin.

23:27
Jilleo Recio
So there's ingredients there like humectants, like glycerin, and then you also have green algae also to help with the hydration. So it really is like multitasking again. You can use it day and night, right after you cleanse your face.

23:42
Grace Kennedy
Yeah. And I'm honestly shocked to hear you're in your forties. So if anyone needs an advertisement for how good regions all encourage encompassing serum is, you know, just look at Gillio's face because you never guess. Not to make you bashful, but, you know, I was like, oh, I had no idea. Ten years younger than that. But congrats on making such an effective serum then, you know?

24:09
Jilleo Recio
Yeah, yeah. I mean, the peptides for me is really like, I think that's the, you know, the ingredient that really I think like helps the serum. You know, I love the peptides. I look for peptides in almost all of the skincare products that I use.

24:22
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely.

24:23
Jilleo Recio
Yeah.

24:24
Grace Kennedy
So you just launched about a year and a half ago. So still young, still learning, still growing. I'm curious, once you launched, it had taken so much time to get there. I guess you started working in 2019. You launched in the spring of 2023. So it's taken like four years to get there. Once you were able to launch, what have you been doing to, you know, actually get the product out there? Because now you have this beautiful product that you put so much energy into. How have you gotten it to customers in front of customers and made sure people actually tried it and bought it?

25:00
Jilleo Recio
Yeah. So I don't think I shared this with you. I was also working a full time job in corporate, so I was working my full time job while also building regions. And so I have a very unique, I guess, situation, well, I should say unique because I know a lot of brand founders are also working full time while also building their business. But I was working full time in tech actually and I just recently left a few weeks ago.

25:27
Grace Kennedy
Oh, wow.

25:27
Jilleo Recio
To really, yeah, to pursue this full time because I felt like I really wasn't giving the attention that regions needed to grow. Right. So when you're working full time, it was challenging because I was having to juggle between the two. And really I only had after my full time job, I really could only work on it from 07:00 p.m. Until bedtime, basically. And on the weekends it was really hard to juggle that because I was just always so tired after my full time job and I felt like I wasn't giving any energy at all to regions. And regions is really my baby. I want it to grow. I need to nurture it. And so I made the decision a few weeks ago to leave my corporate job to really pursue this full time.

26:22
Jilleo Recio
And so since I launched, while I was working full time, I was doing makers markets, a lot of these pop up events just to get them in the hands of, you know, my target audience. And I think I did maybe like over 20 events in 2023 when I launched.

26:43
Grace Kennedy
Yeah.

26:43
Jilleo Recio
And with those events, I mean, they can be very exhausting. I mean, you are out in the sun for like eight plus hours, you know, the setup and then just, and talking to the customers and, you know, so it's a really long day and so I was doing that, but it was great because I got to build up my email list, I got to talk to the customers, understand what their skin concerns are, what did they look for in a product? It's really great in getting all this market research while also building my email list, it's also a great way to also network because you'll never know who you'll bump into or who will stop by your booth. So from there, these events, I was able to network and connect with people.

27:32
Jilleo Recio
And one of the vendors actually referred me to a friend of his that was in LA. That's in LA, a small boutique retailer. His shop is called Messiah. And so they, you know, he introduced me to him and I was able to share my product with the store owner, and I was able to, you know, build that connection. And he brought my product in. He liked, he tried, he tested the product. He liked it. And now he brought it into his store, and from there, it just sort of, like, snowballed, you know? So you just talk to people, you network, and you just get in touch with people and they kind of make. Give you referrals, you know? So I did a pop up event at his store. I met this woman there. She's actually a customer now, a friend of mine.

28:21
Jilleo Recio
Her name is Kat. Hi, Kat. If she's listening today. And she, you know, she introduced me to her network, and it just so happens that one. And one of the person in her network is all about, like, female empowerment. She runs, like, this community about just empowering women, and she's one of the organizers of the Emmys. And so. Yeah, and so we just connected, and she introduced me to her. And now, actually, today we'll be going to the Emmy's gifting lounge, where I get to showcase my products to the nominees. So it's just like, yeah, it's just the main point is that I'm trying to make is that networking is just very important.

29:07
Jilleo Recio
So networking is the one thing that can help your brand just by being out there and talking to other people in the industry or other entrepreneurs, because, you know, you'll never know. And at the same time, we're all in this together, you know, like, I think that's the one thing that's really important about, you know, being an entrepreneur, is that the importance of networking and just helping each other when you see someone that needs help, because we've all been in their shoes at one point and, you know, we're all, like, at different stages. Right? And so there's, I mean, I might be, like, two steps ahead of someone, right? And so if I can help that person based off what I've learned. I'm all about that.

29:48
Jilleo Recio
And then again, another person could be, like, two steps ahead of me, and so I can always ask them for advice. Yeah.

29:56
Grace Kennedy
So that's amazing.

29:58
Jilleo Recio
I don't know if that answered your question.

30:00
Grace Kennedy
No, it definitely did. It definitely did. And it absolutely speaks to just the power of networking. And, like, you never know who might connect you to who. And a customer might connect you to a retailer, or a retailer might connect you to, you know, some chemist or something like that. And so I think that's a great reminder to everybody because you can get so in your own world when you're working on a brand, I feel like you can just be in your own head, in your own room, like, working on the computer all day, and it's an important reminder to say, like, get out there, and who knows? Maybe you'll be at the Emmys getting to introduce your product to a bunch of wonderful actors, actresses, writers, etcetera. So that's amazing. So exciting.

30:42
Jilleo Recio
Yeah. And I think one of the important things that I also learned is finding a mentor, because having a mentor can really help. So I. My mentor is. Her name is Ann. She's the founder of House of m Beauty. Again. Hi, Ann, if she's listening. So she's been really, you know, great and connecting me also with her network. So, again, it's all just about, like, paying it forward when you can, because we all know, like, how lonesome this journey can be and how challenging it can be. And a lot of the times you're always, like, in your head. Right? So if you can just sort of, like, find someone that you can just, like, talk to and just kind of bounce ideas off of, that's. That, for me, is, like, really helpful.

31:27
Grace Kennedy
Yeah. One thing I wanted to ask is, I feel like so often people say things like, you know, find a mentor. And a question I have is, how do you find a mentor? You know?

31:36
Jilleo Recio
So I'll tell you how I found my mentor. So, actually, I was listening to a podcast that she had done. She was on a podcast, and she was sharing her story about how she built her brand and, you know, her journey. And it really resonated with me because she's also asian, and, you know, she's. She launched this beautiful, successful beauty brand again called House of M. And after I just listened to that podcast, I just felt compelled to reach out to her. And I just shot her a DM on Instagram, and I didn't really think she was going to respond because all these things are running in my head. Oh, she's busy. She's not going to talk to me or I'm a small brand, she doesn't know who I am. Why would she respond to me?

32:19
Jilleo Recio
You have all these things that are running through your head again, was one of those things, like, you'll never know if you don't ask. So I was just like, you know what, I'm just going to send her message because I really enjoyed her. The podcast I listened to, she was very inspiring. And I sent her a message and she replied within a day, maybe even less than a day, and the next thing I know, she was like, hey, do you want to jump on a zoom and chat? So we chatted over Zoom and we've been to, you know, in touch ever since. Like, she's been instrumental and in helping me. And we have monthly check ins. So, yeah, it's just like, just sending a Dm.

33:00
Jilleo Recio
Yeah, I know it sounds like, you know, it sounds crazy, or maybe not so crazy, but I think a lot of the times we, especially for me, because, like, I'm an introvert, right? So you can't, you just can't be shy. You have to, like, especially if you're an introvert like me, you have to like, just force yourself to come out of your comfort zone. Yeah, like, you just can't be shy, you know? And that's one thing I also learned, also when I go to these, like, industry events, it's just like, just put yourself out there, introduce yourself, network, you know, and wherever you can, you know, just make yourself seen, you know? So.

33:37
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely. I definitely resonate with that too, as well. You know, you can't be shy and you have to be a little bit shameless and just ask people, you know, you just, yeah, you can't like, hold yourself back because really you'll just be getting in your own way at that point.

33:50
Jilleo Recio
Yeah, exactly.

33:52
Grace Kennedy
But now that you've left your job, your full time job, and you have all of your attention on regions, what are some of your goals in this, all this time now, as I'm sure the time fills up very quickly, but what are some of your goals for regions now that you're going all in?

34:07
Jilleo Recio
Yeah, so, because this is like my first, like, you know, business. Like, I've never launched a business at all whatsoever. There's a lot of things I don't know, but what I do know is that I do want to expand the collection so the line. So I'm working on building out and creating new products to complement the serum. And really the focus is just to get more distribution. So one of my goals, really is to exhibit at these trade shows, potentially find a retailer that resonates, that's aligned with the brand. At the same time, also building partnerships locally that's been really successful so far for Regents is partnering with local estheticians, spas, you know, specialty retailers. That's been really successful. So just trying to build that network, it's kind of like the focus that I'm, you know, working on since I've left the corporate world.

35:20
Jilleo Recio
And this was a lot. There's a lot to consider and think about, you know, but basically it's just kind of going in, really analyzing, like, the business, trying to see what's working, what's not working. Do I need to pivot, you know, all those things? I mean, there's a million things in my head.

35:36
Grace Kennedy
Of course. Of course, I'm sure, and I'm so excited to see, you know, what other products you come up with. But my final question, in the spirit of paying it forward, as you said, if someone were to come to you that was in your position, you know, four years or five years ago now, when you were first even thinking about creating regions, and we're going to that first trade show in Seoul, what piece of advice would you give them as they were, you know, this new brand creator?

36:06
Jilleo Recio
Yeah, I would say, you know, just trust your instinct. Like, trust your intuition, you know, like, if you really feel passionate about your brand, your product, like, do everything and anything you can to, like, bring it to life, I mean, you're going to encounter a lot of, like, challenges and roadblocks, and that's inevitable. I think there's no real blueprint, you know, in launching a successful business because it's different for everyone. But I would say, like, the biggest advice, I would say is really just networking. I think that's the biggest thing.

36:41
Jilleo Recio
Like, go to those industry events, go to those trade shows, walk the floor, find a mentor, reach out to other like minded individuals, people who are there to uplift you because, you know, a lot of the times when you put yourself out there and you kind of, like, when you're sharing your dream and vision, you also open yourself up to a lot of, like, scrutiny and critique. Right. So my advice is to not, you know, be around any sort of energy or people that bring you down. Rather go the opposite and join these groups, you know, find those people that, you know, resonate with you and build that network and just, you know, don't be afraid to, like, ask for help either, you know? Yeah, I think, again, we. We don't have the answers to, like, everything.

37:32
Jilleo Recio
You know, the one thing you can do is just to, again, find someone who has been through that and is willing to help. And I'm like, yeah, I'm a big believer, like, on paying it forward. So if anybody, again, I'm only. I'm very early in my journey myself, but if there's anything I can do to also help other people, you can always reach out to me on DM, on Instagram. I'm pretty responsive, I would say. So if you want to shoot me a message, feel free. I'm always open to helping others also, I love it.

38:07
Grace Kennedy
Like I said, I'm a huge fan of your all encompassing serum. It really works so well and honestly lasted me a really long time, even though I was using it every day. So good bang for your buck as well, which is something we didn't even get into. But, you know, maybe. Maybe neck in a few years when regions is like a global brand, we'll do another interview. But it was so much fun to chat with you. And where can people learn more about regions if they're curious and buy the product?

38:33
Jilleo Recio
Yeah, so you can learn more about regions on our website. So it's regentswellness.com that's spelled regents rejins wellness.com. And you can also find us on Instagram. Egenswellness. Yeah, so just, I'm the only person managing that account. So, you know, if you do Dme, you'll be getting a response from me. So feel free to shoot me a DM. Or, you know, you can also fill out a form on the website if you have any questions.

39:00
Grace Kennedy
Amazing. Well, yeah, everybody flood Julio's inbox. You know, make him regret that he ever said that. People could ask him for advice, but no, also just check out the product. It's amazing. So much fun to have you on the show. Thanks for. Thanks for coming.

39:14
Jilleo Recio
Yeah, thank you, Grace. That's so much fun. Thank you so much.

39:16
Grace Kennedy
Yeah. All right, everyone, thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, it would help us out so much if you left a five star review on ratethispodcast.com. Startupcpg. I am Grace Kennedy, the host of the founder feature series, so feel free to add me on LinkedIn or reach out to me on slack. I'm always on the hunt for new and exciting brands to feature. And if you're a potential sponsor who would like to appear on the podcast, please email partnershipsartupcpg.com and finally, as a reminder for anyone listening, if you haven't already, we would love for you to join our community on Slack. You can sign up via our website, startupcpg.com dot.

40:02
Jilleo Recio
Ramdez.