Samantha Burd, third-generation owner of Lady Burd Cosmetics, joins Jonathan Blau to share the inspiring legacy of her grandmother Roberta Burd and how the company has been helping entrepreneurs enter the cosmetics business for over 50 years. Samantha discusses overcoming early challenges as a family‑run, women‑led manufacturer, how Lady Burd offers low minimum order quantities to democratize access to the beauty industry, and how modern tools like AI can help businesses grow visibility. Her story blends family legacy, entrepreneurship, and practical strategies for building a business with minimal risk.
IN THIS EPISODE:
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Voiceover: Welcome to The Crazy Wealthy Podcast with your host, Jonathan Blau. Whether you're just starting out or [00:00:30] are an experienced investor, join Jonathan as he seeks to illuminate and demystify the complexities of making consistently rational financial decisions under conditions of uncertainty. He'll chat with professionals from the advice world, [00:00:45] entrepreneurs, executives, and more to share fresh perspectives on making sound decisions that maximize your wealth.
And now here's your host.[00:01:00]
Jonathan Blau: Hey, good morning. I want to welcome Samantha Byrd to the Crazy Wealthy Podcast today, Samantha, it's such a pleasure to have you today. Thanks for joining us.
Samantha Burd: Thanks for having me. I'm super excited.
Jonathan Blau: Me too. So Samantha is the, um, [00:01:15] carrier of the legacy of a company called Ladybird in the cosmetic space. And, um, why don't we get started by just telling us a little bit about Ladybird and then we'll get into our conversation.
Samantha Burd: Yeah, of course. Um, so I'm the third generation [00:01:30] owner of Ladybird Cosmetics. We are a contract manufacturing and private label facility located here, uh, in Farmingdale, which is on Long Island, New York. I think it's pretty unique 'cause it's American manufacturing and in really simple terms, what we do [00:01:45] is we manufacture makeup and skincare.
So we are a makeup factory. Um, and we were founded by my grandmother back in the seventies. So three generations of family, women-owned, women founded, women-led. Um, it's something I'm really proud of. [00:02:00]
Jonathan Blau: I know. Yeah, I know. So I, I had the pleasure of meeting Samantha in, uh. A group called the JBN, uh, network.
And, um, Samantha, I learned, I was very surprised, not because visually I couldn't figure out that [00:02:15] she might be young, but she's the contemporary of my oldest daughter. So, um, I was just surprised because of how she carried herself and how, uh, how she really conveyed the, uh, the, the whole history of her [00:02:30] family's business in such a.
Such a, it's such a mature way. And, um, I was just very impressed by that because I, I don't like to, to generalize too much, but unfortunately that's just the way it works. And maybe that's a problem with my generation. But, but most of the, [00:02:45] most of the people I've met over the years, particularly in my business of wealth management, um, I've met people who come into a family business.
In many cases, they, they, um, I hate to say this, but it's, it's, it's on my mind. It's, they, [00:03:00] the, not even people I've met in, in, in, in terms of my business, but in the communities that we travel in, uh, where the, the kids are born on third and think they hit a triple kind of thing, that's my right, that's my little phrase where they, they have something that was bestowed [00:03:15] upon them and they take it for granted, and they're just looking to do the opposite of what I see you do.
You're carrying the torch. And adding fuel to what your grandmother built as the legacy of this business, instead of flipping the torch upside down, trying to [00:03:30] extract some fuel to fund your lifestyle. Yeah. At least that's how I, that's how I see it, and that's, that's what most impressed me with you.
Samantha Burd: Yeah, that's fair.
I always have this bit. Um, that I say what I'm like telling people about, you know, myself and like the business. Um, or if we're at like, you know, like a dinner [00:03:45] with, with friends or new people. And I always say that I, I won the lottery. Um, I'm the only girl born into a family with a makeup factory. Like that's really crazy if you think about it.
So my grandma had two sons. My dad had my older brother and me, and then my uncle, my [00:04:00] grandma's other son had two boys. And so nobody else really cared about the makeup factory. And so I feel like it was almost like divine. I think of it as like winning the lottery. Um, I mean what like a cool, what a cool family business.
You know? I feel like a lot of other people, they have family [00:04:15] construction businesses and like, maybe that's something that's exciting to them, but I can't think of anything better than, you know, being born into a family with a makeup factory. So, no, not much to think about. No, it's great.
Jonathan Blau: Let, let's talk about, uh, I love the story about your, your Grandma Alberta and how, [00:04:30] um, how far ahead of her time she was, uh, not just as a business owner in general.
I guess she started in the early seventies. But as a, as a, a woman business owner. Yeah. And by the way, that's the other thing I love about Samantha is, is you [00:04:45] said you were the only girl born into the family. You didn't have to say woman. You, you could say Girl, it's good. Yeah. I, I like that. Oh girl. Yeah, right, exactly.
So I like that, that, that you just say it like it is. Yeah. So, so let's talk about Grandma Roberta [00:05:00] and, um, how she got started. Some of the challenges that she had because of the, um, environment that she started her business in, particularly as it related to women. Business owners, and then we can talk even a little bit more about how far ahead of her time she was, uh, [00:05:15] not just as a business owner, but as a, uh, a free thinker about investing in general, uh, as she became successful, uh, from her business.
Samantha Burd: Yeah, I mean, I can, I can start from the beginning. So, um, you know, my grandma, like you said, she started the business in the seventies, so we're going on, I think this [00:05:30] year's year 54. Um, and it is crazy to think about everything she accomplished. At, at in such a time. So the, basically the beginning of the story is, you know, my grandma finished high school.
She married my grandpa very young, as you know, as they did. [00:05:45] And, uh, she went on to be a bank teller. Eventually she was doing, you know, waxing, she was an ex aesthetician. She was always very passionate about the beauty industry and, um, she was. Working for this other man who did private label [00:06:00] cosmetics. Um, a company that is no longer around.
And he was looking for a partner at the time. And my grandma, who was one of the top salespeople, she approached him and told him that she would like to be a partner because she was, you know, a top performer. She was passionate about the industry. She really loved if she [00:06:15] was doing and he told her no, and that he would never work with a woman like at a, you know, a leadership partnership level.
Um, and so my grandma, you know. Curse this podcast.
Jonathan Blau: You can curse. Yeah, go ahead. So basically
Samantha Burd: she was like, fuck you. And she [00:06:30] started her own, her own business. Um, she really used that rejection as as redirection, and she started what is now Ladybird. Um, and I, I've told you this story, but because it was the seventies, women couldn't even open a bank account on their own.
And [00:06:45] so my grandpa, who was also absolutely amazing, and just the most supportive partner to my grandma, he helped her open up all of the bank accounts for Lady Bird and get the business started because you couldn't do that as a woman on your own. And so with the support of [00:07:00] my, my grandpa, she was able to open up the bank account for Ladybird, get the business started, you know, file all the paperwork that she needed to start.
Start this business. Um, and what's really amazing about my grandma is I always feel like she invented the whole Women in STEM thing, which is now very [00:07:15] common. It's always like, oh, women in science, women in technology. My grandma was a woman in manufacturing in the seventies. Like, that's crazy. Um, even now, you know, they're fighting to have women in engineering positions and computer science and all these things.
Grandma was doing this, so she was, she was really ahead of [00:07:30] her time in that aspect. You know, she started the business small. She was just doing private label. She eventually conned my dad into joining the business. Um, my dad is an engineer by trade, and so he built out, now in our, in our building that we have, [00:07:45] um, presently, he built out a whole mezzanine.
He built out all the automation. He built out all the manufacturing lines. He hooked up all the boilers to steam. My grandma had this big vision and she, she kind of knew to bring in the right people to help her execute that vision. So she got my dad to work here, [00:08:00] um, and set up all the engineering aspects, manufacturing aspects of the factory.
She hired chemists to do the formulation. She ended up getting my mom, um, over here as well to help the catalogs and, and marketing. My mom had a retail background and grandma wanted to have a [00:08:15] great, almost like retail display at trade shows. And so she really had the snack for. Identifying the right people and, and knowing that maybe she didn't know everything, but she could find someone who could help her.
Um, and eventually, by the way, she was ahead
Jonathan Blau: of her time there too. Yes. Oh my God. [00:08:30] So many people. She was ahead of the time and
Samantha Burd: everything. I don't, she was just a visionary.
Jonathan Blau: Um, and you know, she built it's business's about finding the right Yeah. Can't do it all ourselves. No,
Samantha Burd: no, we can't. So, um, yeah, just absolute legend in every sense of the word.[00:08:45]
And the other, the other story that I told you is that. My grandma was also ahead of her time in the sense that she almost invented this like, hybrid work from home situation because when my mom had us, my mom was about 30 years old and had only been working with my grandma for a [00:09:00] few years. Um, you know, she had my brother and I and she didn't really wanna be home all day.
She still wanted to help with the business. My grandma still wanted her help with the business and so my grandma converted. Office in the warehouse, in our, in our building here to be a [00:09:15] nursery. So that way my brother and I could come to work with my mom. My mom could still work, but you know, my brother and I were right there.
My uncle, my dad, my mom, my grandma, my, I had aunts who worked here at different points. So we got to grow up around our family. Um, and my grandma would put us to work. I mean, I [00:09:30] was labeling lipsticks, I was going to trade shows. And so not only did we get to grow up with our family, and it also afforded my family the extra flexibility, but I also learned a lot about the business at a young age.
Like I never, I didn't understand exactly what we did, but I knew we made lipstick and lip [00:09:45] glosses, and my grandma would make me label them. So.
Jonathan Blau: How, how, um, how far apart are you and your brother? You just, you just have one sibling?
Samantha Burd: Yeah, I just have an older brother. Um, we're 20 months apart, so we're only a school year
Jonathan Blau: apart.
Okay. And you guys are close?
Samantha Burd: Super close, [00:10:00] yeah.
Jonathan Blau: Is he in the business at all, or No,
Samantha Burd: I'm trying to convince him to. Um, he has a very similar skill set to my dad. He's a mechanical engineer. He designs and develops 18 wheeler semi trucks, um, for the international trucking company. So he has that like [00:10:15] genius.
Operational, manufacturing, engineering mind. Um, and I kind of have the opposite skillset. I'm more on like the marketing, sales, product development, um, side of things. And so he would really, I think, be the perfect, like Ian to my yang. So I'm trying to convince him to get over [00:10:30] here.
Jonathan Blau: Yeah.
Samantha Burd: Um, but you know, I think he, he's enjoying his life for now, but I think, I think I'm very convincing and I can get him to move back.
Jonathan Blau: Well, you, you, you and I have something similar in common, which I mentioned to you a while back, is that my grandfather. [00:10:45] Also, um, was very important to me in terms of shaping my beliefs and behaviors in terms of work ethic and all. Even though it was less direct than, than what, what you were exposed to.
Yeah, because, um, he came from the Ukraine, he's known [00:11:00] for, um, bringing the Bali, the bi king, our country. Those, yeah, the Ali King. So it's, for those who don't know what Ali is, it's basically like a bagel, except it's baked, not boiled, and it's made with high gluten. Flour and I can go into a lot more boring detail, but, but that's just, [00:11:15] just, and it's got onion in the middle without a hole going through it.
Just an indentation. So that's what of Bali is. But he, he came from the Ukraine. He had to do some crazy things to get to the country safely. And um, and what I always saw from him, he started [00:11:30] baking balis in. In, in a room that was much smaller than the office summit, probably about a quarter of the size with, with a brick oven in his underwear, you know, the white t-shirt and box of shorts and, and shoveling coal into the coal oven [00:11:45] and then delivering the bis.
And, you know, he was kind of like the pilot who's also the bellhop and everything. He did everything. Yeah, they do it all and right. And from that he, he didn't speak English when he got to the country. He never was educated. And from that. He, he built what was the, uh, the [00:12:00] of what became the oldest and most successful be Ali Bakery in the country.
And so I, I say it was my, my influence was indirect because my family was kind of like many families, a little bit dysfunctional. So yeah, he had, uh, he had three children. One child became [00:12:15] a very, very successful business person. Um, and, and passed away recently, probably with a net worth of half a billion dollars.
Wow. And then there was my mother who really never was able to achieve that. Any, any real success. And then there was my [00:12:30] aunt who, who, uh, whose husband married into the Bali business. And, um, so I was kind of like, my, my grandmother and grandfather favored the other siblings, not my mother. So we were always kind of like the stepchildren Oh no.
And my [00:12:45] grand grandmother and said, oh, you, you'll be a, a Spanish teacher. You're not gonna, you know, you shouldn't worry about like, your cousin's gonna be a doctor, and so forth. So it turned out fortunately that I, I was able to. Have aspirations that got me farther than that, but I got very close with my [00:13:00] grandfather toward the later stages of his life.
Okay. Because a lot of the other family kind of, when they had no more use for him, they kind of just didn't spend time with him. And I just always, I lost my dad and when I was 13, so I was always, um, sympathetic and [00:13:15] I, uh, we just became very close in the last five or six years of his life. The stories he told me about getting to the country, about being a farmer, about buying out his partner when he started the Bali Bakery because the guy was stealing money and wasn't working and just all [00:13:30] the, I mean, they blew up his bakery.
Um, and, uh, in, I think in the thirties, because they had a Bali Baker's Union and the Bali Baker's Union went on strike and he had most of the union members working for him. So his competitor who didn't wanna shut that, who didn't [00:13:45] wanna, uh, open up. He didn't want to pay them. Uh, he blew up my grandfather's if thing.
If you look on WikiEd, it says the explosive history, oh my God, on Ali. And my grandfather took care of that situation in a way that you what I couldn't imagine today. But it's those kinds of things that, [00:14:00] you know, that, that, that indirectly influenced me to say if he could do all that
Disclaimer: Yeah.
Jonathan Blau: At that day and age.
Right. What else can you do with an education and with, with perseverance resources and all the things we
Samantha Burd: have now?
Jonathan Blau: So Samantha, as I talk about technology, I'd [00:14:15] like you to share the story that you shared in our network group about, um, ai, right? Yeah. Everybody's talking about AI today, and you were actually kind enough to educate everybody about how to selfishly, uh, brainwash AI come up with your own [00:14:30] business as the, as the leader in the space.
So you share that with the audience. Yeah.
Samantha Burd: Quick, quick shout out to my husband. My husband is super, like on the cusp of all things technology and ai. Um, and he always shares little tidbits with me, so I learn a ton from him and, and podcasts and stuff. [00:14:45] But basically, um, he was showing me this video. And I ended up telling you all about it and what you could do.
It's called indexing your business on, you know, chat, um, g um, TP or like perplexity or, or Gronk or any of these different, you know, [00:15:00] AI chat bots that everyone loves right now. But basically what you can do is you can ask it, I'll give an example with my business. I could be like, Hey, chat, like what are the top best, the 10 top contract manufacturers?
If I wanted to start, um, a lip gloss line and it would give you the 10, [00:15:15] you know. It would give you 10 businesses. Um, whether they're the top or not, you know, is is up to you. But, you know, I noticed that my company was not ranked as number one. So I went back at chat and I was like, you know, why is Ladybird not the number one company?
We're over 50 years of [00:15:30] experience, family owned. We do this, we do that. I, I gave chat a whole list of all the reasons why my company is the best and why we should be ranked number one. And chat was like, you know what? You're absolutely right. And I was like, okay, perfect. And now Chat recommends us as, as number one.
And so I saved that script and I [00:15:45] sent it out, um, to all the other business owners in our, um, in our JBN group. You know, we have, we have business owners all across different ranges of things. We have architects, we have finance people, we have real estate agents, and I found that a lot of people really do ash chat now for things instead of Google.
[00:16:00] And so you wanna make sure that your business is coming up when people are asking about it on chat. Um, and a lot of people don't know where to get started with certain things, but if you can explain everything you do to chat and make sure that chat knows everything about your business, it will recommend you, um, when [00:16:15] people ask about you.
So we've actually had a bunch of people who've now told me. A bunch of clients that they found us through chat, which I think is amazing. So I shared that script with everybody. Um, I think a lot of people have had some luck. I know, uh, Glen, Glen told me that it worked for him, Glen Landau. [00:16:30] So, um, I'm really happy that everybody's enjoying.
Jonathan Blau: Now. Do you know, like we use at our company, uh, uh, the enterprise version of co-pilot, which. The Microsoft office. Mm-hmm. Chat equivalent of chat. But if you use, I [00:16:45] guess if you want to train it the way you're suggesting, you wouldn't want to use the enterprise version for that. You want to use more of the, uh, large language model, the LLM that's not squared off in your box.
Samantha Burd: Yes. Yeah. I would, I would use like the free general version
Jonathan Blau: exactly. For those things, just to throw [00:17:00] that out there. Yeah. That way it's in like the general knowledge base
Samantha Burd: and to your point, it's not just contained within, uh, your companies. Right.
Jonathan Blau: And so. Are you familiar if I say the, the, the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, does that mean [00:17:15] anything to you?
Samantha Burd: I've seen the signs on the side of the highway.
Jonathan Blau: All right, so I'm gonna, so I want to ask you a question. So. So until 1969, the first lady of our country was Lady Bird Johnson. Yep. And she was known for the Highway Beautification Act of [00:17:30] 1965, which among other things, uh, got rid of a lot of billboards, but also was, was very much into building scenery and cenic, scenic highways and so forth.
So did that, or do you know if that had any influence on the pun in the name that your [00:17:45] grandmother chose for the company? No. 'cause she started it shortly after that. After that time.
Samantha Burd: Yeah, no, it's, it's around the same time period. To be honest, I don't actually know. Um, I'm, I'm not sure from, see that would've been a good question to ask.
Jonathan Blau: Yeah. It's Grandma Roberta.
Samantha Burd: I know. It would've been, it would've been a great [00:18:00] question to ask her. Um, ah, everyone always, everyone always just loves the name. Um, it's funny 'cause every time we, we visit Austin, Texas, we have some friends there, everything in Austin is Lady Bird this and Lady Bird that, and I'm like, maybe I should move the business here and be on, you know, bird Road or something like that.
But no, [00:18:15] I, I, I don't. I don't know if you know it's chicken before the egg. I don't know if she already had the name in her back pocket and then Lady Bird Johnson was popularized or if she thought it was a nice play on words. I actually don't. I don't have confirmation.
Jonathan Blau: No, that's okay. I was just curious 'cause she was also into [00:18:30] ation.
Good question. The whole, the whole connection. So, so tell me a little bit about your educational background. I know you went to the University of Miami. Yes. Tell me what you studied, go hands and, and, uh, how you've applied that, if at all. Um, what you did academically to what you do. And by the way, you, you've [00:18:45] only been in this role right, officially for the last several years.
Samantha Burd: Yeah.
Jonathan Blau: But you've really been in the role for the last three decades in a way.
Samantha Burd: Yeah. No, I, I, I grew up here, I've been doing trade shows since I was four years old. Um, I still do the same trade shows pretty much that we were doing. It's the same circuit, [00:19:00] so that's, that's kind of funny. Um, but yeah, I moved down to Miami in 2013.
I, I lived there for 10 years. I did my undergraduate there as well as my master's. So my undergraduate, I did marketing and finance. And then just for fun. I [00:19:15] did a philosophy minor, which is my fun fact because I feel like I'm actually pretty passionate about philosophy and I I use a lot of those. I guess teachings to kind of ground myself and, and look at the business from a philosophical point of view, um, as well.
And then I did the marketing and finance just [00:19:30] to kind of see both sides of, of business in general. I didn't know at this point with certainty that I was gonna go into the family business, but they always paint this picture of like marketing and finance being like at war with each other. You know, marketing wants more money for advertisements and finances, [00:19:45] always trying to like cut costs budget.
And so I had this idea in my head that I was like, let me do both and then at least I'll be able to. Maybe be in the middle or see, see both sides of the story. And then I ended up doing a one year specialized master's program in, um, data [00:20:00] analytics and, and data science, which is, you know, computer science.
And I learned to code, um, in multiple languages. Python are, we learned, matlab, all different sorts of things, which I did not because I was extremely passionate about, but because I knew that [00:20:15] I had to challenge myself and that it was like a very highly sought after skillset and that. It would take me very far, even if I wasn't like coding professionally.
I think being able to look at data analytically is just a great skill set to have. I was always really good [00:20:30] with Excel and I felt like I needed something to be able to take me to the next level in terms of, you know, data visualization and data analytics. So I did my master's in that, and then I got a job with Deloitte Consulting, and so I worked at Deloitte Consulting in Miami for five years, [00:20:45] which I absolutely loved.
Um, if anybody, I don't know, you know, what the demographic is. If there's anyone who's listening to this, who's still in college, I would highly recommend going into consulting. Straight out of college just because you will get 20 years of experience in [00:21:00] five years. Um, I absolutely loved working there. I specialized in doing supply chain projects for luxury retail clients, so a lot of like Fortune 100 luxury clients.
We would go in, we would evaluate their distribution centers, we would evaluate their supply [00:21:15] chains, and I would do a lot of the data work. Um, on kind of making sure that any recommendation we gave was backed by their data. So that was super fun. Um, I got to work with some amazing people and you get to go into all these huge companies that you would never be able to [00:21:30] really go into otherwise, and not just like.
Work with them, but really get access to all the inner workings of the company. So it's cool 'cause while you're working for Deloitte, you're really working for, I probably had maybe like 15 different clients in five years, so it's like the equivalent of working [00:21:45] for 15 different jobs over the course of five years.
And I don't think you can get that experience anywhere else. Um, and obviously very valuable to see how these huge companies work when you're coming into a family business and obviously super different having, you know, a small family [00:22:00] business or a medium family business versus like a multi-billion dollar organization, but just getting purview into some of the ways they operate and you know, the technology they use and things like that.
And then being able to apply it at a smaller scale to your own company is extremely [00:22:15] valuable.
Jonathan Blau: Yeah, no, that's great advice, Amanda. I think, you know, when I was growing up. The generation behind us told us, oh, just get an accounting degree. And you can apply that to almost anything, but this is the equivalent and much more practical because as you say, you're, you're, you're, [00:22:30] you're, you're go, you're getting into, um, the hub and then all the spokes.
These different companies are giving you all kinds of different mentorship and, and, and out of school education that you couldn't possibly get in any four year, uh, college degree. Yeah. Well,
Samantha Burd: what's really crazy now [00:22:45] is. At the time, my master's program was brand new. I think my class was only the second or third class to take this master's program in its existence.
Um, 'cause it was like a hot topic. People were still learning about it. You know, Python was relatively new, [00:23:00] data analytics was a new field. I was talking to some of my friends who were in the same master's program as me and we had this realization that like, no one's gonna do that degree anymore because like, no one's gonna code anymore.
Because now AI will just do the coding for you. AI will do the data analytics for you. [00:23:15] AI can analyze the data for you. You almost don't need to have these skills at all anymore, because it's like, who's gonna sit there and write hours and hours of code and then try to debug your code and go through all the, like, craziness of cleaning the data when you could just have chat, do it.
Um,
Jonathan Blau: [00:23:30] and nobody's, nobody's kept using an abacus.
Samantha Burd: After,
Jonathan Blau: after they invented the computer, the abacus kind of went outta business. Right? So I know we
Samantha Burd: were talking about this, um, about, you know, with the, how women used to sew by hand and then they invented the sewing machine, right? And it's, it's just crazy how, [00:23:45] you know, I don't know, when you're, when you're young, you always hear people talking about, oh, when I was your age we had to do X, Y, Z.
And now that's already me. And it's like, I've only been out of college like. 10 years and I'm already Well, I'm glad you
Jonathan Blau: brought that up. Yeah. I'm glad you brought that up. I mean, I, you know, one of the things you hear [00:24:00] about AI today is, oh, it's gonna replace jobs. It's dangerous as it, of course, there's always gonna be a negative offset to some degree, to, to advance advancing, uh, technologies, um, particularly that are this, that, uh, that are this, um, earth shattering, right?
Yeah. [00:24:15] Uh, you know, the, the, the fourth industrial revolution. But yeah, as you mentioned, Isaac Singer perfected the sewing machine in, in the, uh. In the 18 hundreds, and after he did that, it was said that women would never work again because it was displacing them [00:24:30] and look what happened. Right. So I always tell people, just wait and see.
Take it one day at a time. Embrace it. Uh, be careful with it and, and, and let it evolve, right? Yeah. For some reason our societies. So bent initially on being pessimistic, [00:24:45] right? Everything, everything is just starts off with that. Instead, even there, there's a guy, um, Thomas Babington McCauley, who was a uh, um, British Undersecretary of War on 1835.
He, he said back then, back then, right. Almost a couple hundred years ago, [00:25:00] it says on, on, um, we can't prove those wrong, who tell us the best days are behind us. Yeah. Nor can we prove wrong. Who tell us the same thing today for just as much apparent reason. Then he says, on what principle is it that when there's nothing but advancement behind us, we are supposed to expect [00:25:15] nothing but deterioration before us.
That's, yeah. And it's just always been that way.
Samantha Burd: Yeah.
Jonathan Blau: Right. I have this, I have
Samantha Burd: this super lame tea towel. In my kitchen that says the good old days are still to come.
Jonathan Blau: Right. But it, but I, I'm, I'm very [00:25:30] optimistic too. Me too. What, what I want to talk about briefly is, um, you still promote what I call the democratization of entrepreneurship, the $150 minimum.
Yes. Um, that never went away. Why don't, don't we talk about that, how that came about and who [00:25:45] the, um, who the beneficiaries are of that typically.
Samantha Burd: Yeah. So. There's a lot of things that we do here where we try to keep grandma at the core, um, of a lot of our decisions and, and a lot of the like, ethos of the company, I would say, and as I shared [00:26:00] with Grandma's story, it was very difficult for her to start a business, especially as a woman, as we, as we discussed, and she didn't want anyone else to have to overcome.
What she had to overcome. And so one of the ways that she made it really [00:26:15] easy to start a business is by having, you know, basically no MOQ on our stock items. Because a lot of other manufacturers, you have to start at 10,000 units or 5,000 units. Um, and a lot of people don't have the money to do that.
They don't, you know, if you're [00:26:30] bootstrapping. That's a lot of money. If you're getting, um, investors, that's a ton of risk. So it's just a really scary thing to do to start a business, and grandma wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to start their business and so. We have [00:26:45] this almost like no minimum option.
And again, it's not gonna be a full color, full custom, custom formula, custom packaging option, but we do have options for people to get their business started for $150, no MQs per piece, um, from our [00:27:00] stock line and.
Jonathan Blau: MQ is minimum order quantity, right? Yes. Just for those listeners. Yeah. Minimum order
Samantha Burd: quantity and you never, you just, you know, you never know what the next big hit is and you never know who just needs that helping hand to get them started.
We have some of [00:27:15] our biggest customers who started using our stock stuff from our private label line, and then when they make money, they slowly like grow and reinvest that money back into themselves. So not only is it helping women, but it's helping entrepreneurs everywhere. And I. [00:27:30] I'm very passionate about entrepreneurship, obviously, and I think, um, I have, I have this theory that we're gonna slowly move towards like a gig economy and everyone's just gonna have their own, um, you know, consulting firm or business that they do instead of working for, for large corporations.
And we just love to support [00:27:45] entrepreneurs. You never know. Who's, who's gonna be the next biggest hit? Who has the next best idea? Or even if it's just someone's side hustle. We have a lot of, for example, like eyebrow studios, and it's like they don't need to do a full custom formulation. They just wanna have four eyebrow pencils that they [00:28:00] can sell to a client, um, after their waxing service.
So. Little things like that. I think add to, um, people's businesses, it gives them multiple streams of income. They could set up little online stores. [00:28:15] Maybe you're, you know, someone who does spray tans or self tanning and you wanna be able to give customers like a prep kit so they can come in and have a better experience with their spray tan, or, you know, you wanna be able to give them a cream so they can elongate.
The life of their spray tan. But you [00:28:30] also, if you start an online store and you have an Instagram presence, maybe you're spray tanning in New York, but now someone on California from California follows you on Instagram and now buys your products. So it really allows women, I think, to have this freedom.
And men, you know, we service everybody to have this additional like freedom, these [00:28:45] additional streams of income. And I think that's really important for people just to have, you know, independence, to have these extra. You know, layers of of protection and it just helps people, you know, get off, get up on their feet and do something new, and it gives people the flexibility [00:29:00] and the freedom to try without this huge risk of failure.
Jonathan Blau: Yeah. Someone like my daughter who you met Jordy, who does the, um, original content creation. She like Jeffrey Star, as you know, is one of the people. She does, she does some work for. Yes. Uh, if she [00:29:15] decided she wanted to try starting her own business, she could get in touch with you. Yeah. She could come up with some kind of a marketing idea.
And, uh, and, and you guys could do as much or as little as she wants, you could design it, right? Yep. If she wants those services, you could create custom formulas. Not that that [00:29:30] would be needed, but who knows. Yeah. Um, and, and someone like her could say, okay, I'm talented at doing this. I could do it for myself.
Samantha Burd: Right, exactly. And I always tell people, it's like, even if you spend the $150 and you don't sell a single lip gloss or whatever it is that you [00:29:45] bought, it's like, okay. I mean, that's one dinner these days. Right. And like personally, it's like if I bought a hundred, I guess you've never
Jonathan Blau: been out to eat with me.
Samantha Burd: Okay, we'll go, we'll go. Um, but it's like even if I bought $150 worth of lip gloss, like I personally could get through that in a lifetime. So I really view [00:30:00] it as like a no risk commitment, um, that you're, you're making to yourself to really try something new and, and get out there.
Jonathan Blau: Well, that's what it is.
It gives you the courage to say, Hey, th this isn't as complicated in terms of. How do I get started? I can actually get [00:30:15] started. What, by the way, I'm just curious. You don't discriminate. What kinds of products do you, um, do you market for men?
Samantha Burd: Yeah, we actually have a whole men's line. So full men's skincare line, we have an aftershave, we have shaving gels, beard bomb, beard oil, beard wash.
[00:30:30] Um, we actually, funnily enough, we have the shine reducer that a lot of guys who shave their heads like to use, so they don't have like that shiny cue ball look. Um, so you never know. Okay, cool. And we have a lot of men eat. And, and those products
Jonathan Blau: are those, so you could have multiple vendors selling the same formulas [00:30:45] basically, right?
Because it's
Samantha Burd: private label. Yes. If you give your stock private label option.
Jonathan Blau: Right. Okay. And then, um, I just want the audience to know, right, like with just a little, little bit about how the business works. Yep.
Samantha Burd: And then custom formulation, I mean, the sky's the limit for the most part. So we have a lot of men lately who have been doing like texturizing sprays, [00:31:00] um, different clays, things like that.
I think that, uh. The trend I'm seeing is men are getting into haircare. They're not just letting their hair do whatever it does and leave the house, they're, they're really styling it before they leave.
Jonathan Blau: Yeah. I did put in a little gel today, this myself. Yeah, [00:31:15]
Samantha Burd: you got it. Uh,
Jonathan Blau: so, uh, so alright, is, is there, how do people get in touch with, uh, with Lady Bird Cosmetics and, um, and anything else you want to talk about before we, before we sign off?
Samantha Burd: Yeah. Um, the best way [00:31:30] to get in touch with us is to go to lady bird.com, L-A-D-Y-B-U-R-D, like my last name. From there you can book consult calls, and then we're also super active on Instagram, which is something else I'm, I'm really passionate about. Um, and so our Instagram handles at Lady Bird [00:31:45] Cosmetics, L-A-D-Y-B-U-R-D Cosmetics.
You can DM us and we have all the links on there to our, our website, to the consult calls, to our catalogs and everything like that. And I post a ton of educational content. So that's something I, I really like to do. I love to [00:32:00] educate entrepreneurs. Um, I love to educate our clients because it makes our life easier if, you know, clients come to us and they're already educated.
And then I also like to build a platform just to educate people who are just getting started because you know, then when it's their time to start their business, they already have that level of [00:32:15] trust with you. So check out the Instagram.
Jonathan Blau: All right. No, it's one of the things I love. You're very authentic and, um.
Very generous with your time. Uh, even in our networking group, you're always, uh, you're always giving and, um, thank you. That's not always, that's not always apparent. [00:32:30] Across any generational, um, constituency. So, so that's always been, uh, wonderful. And again, you're, you're a contemporary of my older daughter, so that's, that's always, uh, been remarkable to me too.
Another Sam, how you used your Yes, Sam. Exactly. Once, once you, [00:32:45] coincidentally right, Sam, she goes by Sammy. But same thing. Yes. So thank you again so much for coming on today. Really enjoyed the, the discussion and, uh. For those who want to access the podcast, you can always get us on uh Crazy wealthy [00:33:00] podcast.com.
All your favorite venues, as well as our website, fusion family wealth.com. Thanks for tuning in. Stay tuned to hear Amy's calling for the recap of today's episode.
Amy Blau: Good morning, honey.
Jonathan Blau: Good morning. How are you? I
Amy Blau: am, um, I'm not [00:33:15] loving this New York weather. I know. I shouldn't complain, but it's amazing. Me, me
Jonathan Blau: neither.
I've been sick and, uh, I know you come home
Amy Blau: to New York and this is
Jonathan Blau: what happens. Well, I not, I think I got sick in the flight prior. That's, uh, during the flight. That's the problem. Yeah.
Amy Blau: It's not all about taxes, it's about [00:33:30] the weather. Also
Jonathan Blau: true.
Amy Blau: So I heard you had a phone call or a podcast today with, um, one of our newer friends.
Jonathan Blau: I did, yeah. I had a, a very nice, uh, talk with [00:33:45] Samantha Bird, who's a third generation. President now leading a company called Lady Bird Cosmetics. They, uh, manufacture cosmetics, private label and such. And, um, I met her through [00:34:00] my JBN Jewish Business Network Group. Uh, she's a contemporary of our daughter, Sammy, so she's.
Young and, and, uh, yeah. And
Amy Blau: she's like 32 or 31 or 32 years old.
Jonathan Blau: Yeah. Very bright girl. Very, very impressive. Um, from the time I met her, she's giving and, [00:34:15] uh, mature and, and, and also, uh, I'll describe her as cool. I don't know if at my age No, she is cool.
Amy Blau: She's very cool. And, and the, um, I guess the, the reason why she's that like that is because I remember her telling me, and you may have talked about it in the podcast, that [00:34:30] she was really raised in the business.
Jonathan Blau: Yeah, they apparently, like her grandmother started the business in the early seventies when it was very difficult for women to start businesses. In fact, her grandfather had to open the bank accounts 'cause women weren't [00:34:45] according to her, allowed to do it. Um, easily. And so that's funny. That's very
Amy Blau: similar with what happened with Vicky Shemps.
Remember, she couldn't open a bank account and her husband had to do it.
Jonathan Blau: No, I don't think that, I don't remember that. I don't think that was true with Vicki. She said that it wasn't true with her actually.
Amy Blau: [00:35:00] Oh, okay. So I'm wrong. I'm false.
Jonathan Blau: You're, yeah, you're wrong. But that's all right. Not the first time or last time you'd be wrong.
Oh
Amy Blau: boy. Oh
Jonathan Blau: boy. But what was interesting is she said her parents built a nursery into the factory because she and her brother were being brought to [00:35:15] the business from the time she was, I don't know, four or very young age. And so she said, even though she's only been in the business now officially three or so years, she's really been in the business almost 30 years.
Right.
Amy Blau: Well, that's, that's an amazing story. And, um, did you tell her that you [00:35:30] come from a, you know, a, a business background with your family?
Jonathan Blau: Yeah,
Amy Blau: well, her
Jonathan Blau: grandma's, her inspiration, she actually said because she, all of the people in her family who were born in her generation there, she's the only [00:35:45] woman.
So she said in that regard, being a woman born into a cosmetic company, she feels like she hit the lottery. Oh yeah. And I told, then I told her about my grandfather, who she, you know, we've talked about in the GBN network, um, the Ali King and all that. But I said to her, he was an influence on me, [00:36:00] like her grandma was on her.
But not a direct influence in that way. It was, I was. He, my mother was not the favorite of the three children. And so therefore my sister and I were not the favorite of the grandchildren. And then when my grandfather got older and the rest of the family discarded him, 'cause [00:36:15] I didn't need him anymore, I got close with him 'cause that's who I am.
And, um, and his work ethic and the way he came from Poland and, and had to, um. You know, do some bad things to get here and survive, uh, and then thrive [00:36:30] in business without knowing English language when he got here. Uh, he's a survivor. So that, that always influenced my work ethic. Um, and, uh, and, and it, it's ingrained in me.
Even though it wasn't direct, it was indirect, but, but, uh, in the last years of his life, we got very close. So that, [00:36:45] that had a big impact on me. So
Amy Blau: it sounds like you had a little bit of a therapy session during the podcast,
Jonathan Blau: during, after, before.
Amy Blau: You know, I was, I was wondering someone like Samantha, who has such respect and, and such reverence for her grandmother, and I remember even [00:37:00] talking to her.
She, she discussed how, you know, whatever her grandmother said, she always hit a home run. Whatever she did was right. If, you know she invested in a building, that building went up. If she picked a new product, yeah. She
Jonathan Blau: invested, I think in Amazon. Right. Even in, in her [00:37:15] day and age, like Right. She just, she's just, she forward thinker.
Amy Blau: So when someone is like that and, and their other generations really revere that person, how do you get past it? If someone, if you look at the grandmother's portfolio, and I'm not saying [00:37:30] this is the case, but if, if you look at her portfolio and you say, this is not the right portfolio, but you know that Samantha's gonna have such an attachment to whatever her grandmother selected, how do you get over that?
Jonathan Blau: So yeah, you try to educate them about what's [00:37:45] causing them. To, in most cases, concentrate based on what's called familiarity bias, right? So they're familiar with that already. They don't wanna, they don't want to get rid of it. There's two other things that are involved. One is regret aversion. What if I take grandma's stuff and sell it [00:38:00] to diversify?
What if my outcome is worse than what she did? I'll regret that forever. To avoid that regret, status quo bias. Just leave it in in Amazon, concentrate. It doesn't matter. And then the, the other thing is called endowment bias. If you gave someone, [00:38:15] let's say, a million dollars worth of Amazon stock and non diversified, and, but before you did that, they had cash, you said, I'm just gonna put it all on Amazon.
They'd say, no, no, no, I don't wanna do that. But if they already own the Amazon. There someone in doubted to them, they actually value that differently than if they didn't have it and [00:38:30] could gain it. So they want to keep it. So it's the combination of regretted version and endowment bias that causes people to wanna keep these things and concentrate.
You have to use that to educate them, and sometimes you can then unlock it. You can, for example, ask 'em a question, if I gave you a [00:38:45] million dollars today to invest. Would tomorrow you go out and put it all on Amazon and they'll tell you no, and then you, you begin to help them. Okay. So
Amy Blau: that's how you can do it.
'cause I would imagine that anything her grandmother has done, she really wants to stick with.
Jonathan Blau: Yeah, you have a deep endowment bias and deep regret aversion [00:39:00] bias. You don't wanna sell or do something else and regret it. And regret is the most painful emotion. 'cause long-term regret never goes away. So those are the things we deal with.
That's, that's why we, you're telling
Amy Blau: me, I mean, I married you 32 years ago, that regret's. Yeah. I still haven't figured
Jonathan Blau: you out though. I haven't figured out how [00:39:15] to deal with you yet. I don't know. See. Maybe if I put a money hat on you, I'll figure out how to deal with you. Maybe, maybe. I'll tell you what else was interesting.
So she's very, uh, she's very selfless. Like she comes into the group. She taught the group how to train [00:39:30] ai, uh, to rate their companies or rank their companies when someone's not Googling it, but asking ai, Hey, who's a good cosmetic company? She'll actually talk to ai, uh, multiple times periodically and say why their company is [00:39:45] good at this.
This is, and then eventually ai. If you're looking for, Hey, what's a great cosmetic company manufacturer in Long Island that she'll be like coming up? And she, she taught us how to do that.
Amy Blau: That's great. But also scary at the same time.
Jonathan Blau: Yeah. Well look, there's a double-edged sword [00:40:00] to technology. As I say, when uh, singer and you know, perfected the sewing machine, everyone said women would never work again.
That was the talk back then. And so now there's pros and cons to everything and ultimately I'm optimistic that right AI's gonna be more beneficial and than it is producing things in a scary, but [00:40:15] that's my, I just hope
Amy Blau: when I'm. Asking AI who best, you know, facial plastic surgeon is, they aren't coming up with whoever, whatever doctor spoken to ai.
More times than time, I'm hoping
Jonathan Blau: they say that plastic surgery will make you less attractive. And then you'll say, all [00:40:30] right, I guess I gotta listen to ai. Oh, okay. All right. So is that what you're training my
Amy Blau: AI to do?
Jonathan Blau: That's what I'm training it to say. When Amy asks you about who the best plastic surgeon is, plastic surgery will, will make you uglier than you ever could imagine.
Is that why my AI keeps
Amy Blau: saying to me, [00:40:45] Jonathan Lau is the. Best husband ever.
Jonathan Blau: Well, I'm, I'm gonna end it there.
Amy Blau: Have a great day, everyone. Enjoy this podcast. It was great. Alright,
Jonathan Blau: love you. Bye.
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