Sam Levinson, co-founder, of DOM talks to the team about what it took to start a hand-sanitizer DTC startup and her journey from tech startup, to recruiter to entrepreneur.
Sam Levinson, co-founder, of DOM talks to the team about what it took to start a hand-sanitizer DTC startup and her journey from tech startup, to recruiter to entrepreneur.
Sam has always felt a calling to start her own business and inspiration for DOM came from her own frustration with the lack of safe, effective and aesthetically pleasing products on the market. Especially during a time when hand sanitizer was and still is becoming such an integral part of our lives. DOM is here to reshape our relationship with routine.
1
Speaker 1
0:01
DTC growth show. Hey guys, it's Sophia and Gabriella and we're back at it again with another episode of the DTC growth show. So if you guys are new here, Every episode gabbing, I interview some of the most interesting founders at the most exciting DTC brands in the entire world.
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Speaker 2
0:20
Today on the pod, we have Sam Levinson, the mastermind and founder of dawn, Sam, who was a recruiter by day and a foodie by night until she launched headfirst into the entrepreneurial world. Right at the start of the pandemic. Sam has always felt a calling to start her own business and inspiration for DOM came from her own frustration with the lack of safe, effective and aesthetically pleasing products on the market. Especially during a time when hand sanitizer was and still is becoming such an integral part of our lives. Dom is here to reshape our relationship with routine.
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Speaker 3
0:56
So I'm Sam, I fair to the business, march 2020. So right when the pandemic started with my husband, and will nail husband at the time, not husband, but life has changed drastically since then, when we founded the business, we were really looking at how the pandemic was shaping sanitizer. And it was a product that we forever used it we were the people that I was like, I'm not washing my hands, I'm just gonna sanitize quickly, and just always had sanitizer on me. But we recognize that we are a very rare group, and that there weren't many people like that. And then most people were only sanitizing when they maybe they were traveling or going to a hospital or for some sort of medical reasons or visiting a new baby, whatever that might be. But it wasn't their regular. And so similar to how 911 shaped and shifted security and safety, we feel that this is what's happening with sanitizer in the pandemic, something that's always been around, I just need a new narrative. And so we want to jump in and see how can we shift that narrative? How can we get everyone else to kind of feel how we do but sanitizer and use it all the time? And for that we recognize what is the world? Like? What are people doing? What are their buying habits, and we're definitely in my day and age where people are conscious consumers. They're not just buying, you know, the blue sweater because they want the blue sweater, they want to find out where the blue sweater is from who's making it? How do I find it in the most sustainable fashion? How do I find it locally? Is it a woman owner who's behind it, so on and so forth? So they're asking questions, and then on the other hand, are in the Instagram age? How do we move a product off the shelf and onto someone's Instagram grid? And how do we make it trendy and exciting and you know, something that you want to add to your every day? And so we really looked at how can we make this product sustainable, local and organic? And then how do we make it also a cute product that doesn't look like this medical ugly sticker bottle with booze filled in. And so he kind of just jumped in and took the leap and really became, quote unquote, experts in sanitizer, suddenly, that was not part of our everyday prior like our part of our career life prior. And that's kind of where we're at. And so it's in a month will be a year since launching sales. And it's been really fun seeing it expand across people's hands and homes and stores were in about 100 stores across the country. And now we will be expanding into more lifestyle goods.
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Speaker 1
3:19
Yeah, well, I want to get into the retail later. Did that make you nervous? So because you guys launched when I was looking at your LinkedIn you guys launched right in March. So you were launching and you were planning before the pandemic happens. So in a weird kind of twisted way, the pandemic was like a happy kind of opportunity, I would say for your business, like what do you think? Because you're also saying was a small niche as well. So when did that scare you before the pandemic, in terms of how well this product would do.
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Speaker 3
3:50
So kind of backstory is I was part of a tech startup prior, and they let go 70 75% of the business in February of 2019. I guess that would be or no 2020 Sorry, my ears are all confused. So literally Valentine's Day, February, I lost my job. And so it was not working when the pandemic first started. And so my husband and I were trying to think like, what are different business ideas that we could venture into? Maybe we open an event space, maybe we, you know, create our own adult juices and do you know the green juice but in a juice box so it's cute and trendy? And we just started to think of ideas and literally right like the first day being like, Okay, we are going into lockdown. We're like, oh, let's do sanitizer. This seems like a good time, especially because we kept encountering all the gross ones and hearing everyone's complaints on the market. So wasn't that we just started it before the pandemic it just was a coincidence that's like right at the right time, and jumping into it quickly. But we didn't want sales for about a year after but it was wild, also creating sanitizer when the whole world needed sanitizer so badly and getting it and calling into the spam Raising manufacturers local and saying hi, we want to make a sanitizer and then be like, well, the hospitals need it and these bigger fish need it right now and your tiny order your tiny business means nothing to us.
5:13
Oh, okay, where did the name DOM come from?
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Speaker 3
5:16
It actually means home. So on one hand, on the marketing hand, we wanted something that was short and easy to remember. And that, you know, felt somewhat familiar to you. And then on the other hand, we wanted to really instill a feeling of home, which for us, has the connotations of comfort and protection and safety and warmth. And so I started just going online and searching home and translating it. And I realized that it translated to dawn and like 10 different languages, one of them being Polish, and my family actually comes from Poland. So it felt like all the stars are aligning. And so we went for it. And then what's great is that it allows us to expand across the home as we continue to expand the pipeline,
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Speaker 1
5:57
your previous background is in like talent acquisition, and HR. So few things with that. Why decide to launch a business? Like why not, you know, further your career in talent acquisition? And what was that process taking that jump, especially in pandemic times when it's more nerve racking and scary? And your husband, from my understanding, does it part time, right, he's like an account executive, and he does the business. So yeah, this is
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Speaker 3
6:25
not either of our worlds at all. My husband, Adam, he worked for Gordon Food Services for years doing food sales, so familiar ish of the market, and of that world. And then now he works for both logistics to doing sales. And as I can't executive for them, and I come from the HR world. So doing recruitment across the tech space for five plus years. I ended up going back to it right after we did start DOM. So I was working in a while we were launching and in the process, and I did work, I think it was about like a year, I'm going back to recruitment. And why didn't I want to continue, my heart wasn't in it, it was one of those things where I loved doing it. And I was good at doing it. And I really understood the role really well. But I wasn't one of those recruiters that lives and breathes. So job, I didn't really care to go to the networking events. And I didn't really care to learn these new tech skills and, and dive into different tools. I just kind of knew my way of doing it. And I liked the detective work of it. And I got to meet and learn about different people. But I was cool with leaving it out how it was. Whereas with Dom, it's such a different world, I get to have my hand at so many different pots and so many pots that I've never put my hands in. So diving into the world of social media, logistics, sales, and customer service, advertising, just like really, any hat that you can imagine a business over has to wear, I get to wear and they're all really scary. And that's super exciting. And I think I just had that itch, the wanting to be really uncomfortable again. And then also like my heart just was in it. Once we got started with like doing the research and learning about sanitizers, I just was so deep in it, that the idea of not pursuing and exploring and seeing this is a part of market fit and good work would break my heart. And so I just knew I needed to give it a shot.
1
Speaker 1
8:30
What were those key skills that you incorporated from your career and talent acquisition that you incorporate it into the business? Yeah,
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Speaker 3
8:39
I think there's definitely a handful. What's interesting about talent acquisition is that there's just so many parts to that role of like one being a detective and knowing how to do research. So I've got two of those research skills of like being able to dive deep into the web to find information and find contacts and people in support to help us grow this business. So that was definitely one. I think just also that intuitiveness of really understanding people and what they're looking for helped. And then in talent, I had to somewhat play around on social media to one sometimes find people to hire, but also to attract and get their attention. So I started to dabble into that world, but not as much as I do now.
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Speaker 2
9:20
Yeah, and I'd love to go actually back to the topic of like your co founder and like partnership, because like, finding the right partnership is so hard. Like I feel like schools do a really good job teaching kids like how to work in a team and like share responsibilities. But when it comes down to the actual selection process, like I can't remember like a single lesson on how to like isolate who is the best partner to choose for a challenge, a challenge where neither of you fully understand what it could be like at that point of selection. So I'm curious as to know like, How did you land on Like your partner, like your husband at when you first imagined Dom
3
Speaker 3
10:04
Yeah, I think even from the get go, just always wanting to do business together, we have such different personalities and skills. When you see us together, we are very much the same person, we're both very outgoing and loud, and very unapologetically ourselves, sometimes to a fault. Um, but when it comes to our knowledge and what we enjoy doing, we're quite different in the workspace. So whereas I really enjoy the creative side and more of the operations side of the business, and diving into social media, and the brand, and the website and the packaging, and all of that side, he loves the financials of it, and understanding the numbers and the logistics and how to create the product, but on the like, partnership side of working with our manufacturers. So really, it's like, what can we not? What can I not do? He can do and vice versa. And I think that's where the perfect partnership is, is finding someone that can fill the gaps that you can't jump into or that you just know, aren't what excite you?
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Speaker 2
11:07
Yeah, no, I totally agree. And like, you know, we were chatting a little bit before and stuff about, like, how I was very lucky to go to like, Expo West, this past week, and I had the privilege of talking to like a lot of founders and a lot of them that I found was like, I was trying to find the commonality, what was the common thread between all these founders who often like transcended their industry to jump into like food or like consumer packaged goods? Cuz that's so tough like launching food, like a, like a new food product during a time like UNICEF, where like, supply chains are different than needs and stuff of consumers is different. And these are consumables that you need, like, on a daily basis, how do you spend 6080 hours a week diving into like an industry, neither of you are super, like familiar with it, it sounds like almost one of those common threads is like falling in love with really complex challenges that just kind of, regardless of what your backgrounds are, and stuff, like kind of make your heart sing and allow you guys to be there for each other as you navigate. That's simply weird. So it's amazing to see. It's always interesting to hear in theory, and we understand like how hard it is, it's amazing to see actually in practice and see that you guys have achieved that.
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Speaker 3
12:12
Well, thank you. Yeah, it's definitely it's definitely a journey. And I'm I've been doing it while working from home. So we always say our husband always that we live together, and then we have a dog and then we work from home. And then the workday ends. And does it end? Like when does that end? When do you go between being business owners together to a married couple. And so it's definitely a journey and a roller coaster that we are constantly navigating and trying to figure out where to kind of draw those lines and set those boundaries. But it's also hard because DOM is essentially our baby. It's what we're so proud of. But we're also so deeply invested in and it's consumes us. And so it's really also just like a personal journey of deciding, like, how do we move forward and manage us from there, too. But I think also going back to your other point about choosing to dive into something that is so unfamiliar, is also so complicated during such a weird time in the world. You have to almost look at it and say, Will I regret this? Will I always be wondering about this? If I don't do it? Will it break my heart? If I don't do this? Will I be jealous of someone else? If I see that they do it? And if the answers are? Yes, and you're really wondering about it, and if you can afford to do it and try to do it, you have to take that leap? Because if not, it's going to haunt you forever. And so we're very fortunate that we were able to do that.
1
Speaker 1
13:35
Yeah, and you were talking about those boundaries. Because you know, you guys do everything together. Right? You have the business live together. Yeah. What are those boundaries that you guys have? to I guess separate your relationship from business?
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Speaker 3
13:51
Yeah, I think we're both straight shooters. So we very much lay our cards on the table, and we are who we are. And so if we're feeling a certain way, or we have a question, or we, you're upset about something, whatever that might be, we say it. And then also, if we need time, we say that too. And so I think it's about really just being honest and transparent, and really saying what we need. You know, a big example is when you're in a fight with someone, right, you you have a fight you say sorry, are you okay? Right away, like do you snap out of it? They're like, Okay, let's go for lunch. Probably not, you probably still feel whatever you were feeling you need that time to digest and breathe and well, especially for women like we it's a whole other level of emotion and we need time to digest. And so that's just you know, for me, that's a big thing. So it's okay, well have these great meetings and sometimes it's not a conversations I typically may want to have or their hard reality hitting conversations. And so it's really setting that expectation that okay, I need time now. Maybe I to go upstairs or go for a walk or whatever it is. Or maybe we have dinner, watch TV in silence. It's like Whatever you need to do to get through, but being honest and transparent allows us to then move past it.
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Speaker 2
15:07
No, that's incredible. And I feel like, you know, there was a time where you saw this trend of like all these work from home articles, and so many of us are, I feel like, especially with partnerships like yours, and so what we don't hear enough is like the work from like marriage articles of like, if you are sharing a home, you are sharing an office, you are sharing a business, you're sharing like a dream, you know, it's kind of a different, it's a different playbook. For you guys entirely.
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Speaker 3
15:30
It's such a different playbook. And it's, there's no rules or guidelines is that also everyone's so different. And it's hard to when you are the ones investing in the business, it's not like we're working for another company together, it's our company that we're managing your money together. So even if we do go on a vacation, like we were just in my scope, obviously in my head, like, Oh, this is a content opportunity trip, I'm taking tons of pictures and making videos and you're gonna be my muse. But as long as you can make it still fun, and also understand not to allow it to consume everything you do, and set those boundaries or say, you know, this is a dinner night, we're going out for dinner, we're not talking business, and it just you have to set the expectations.
1
Speaker 1
16:10
Is it totally self funded by you guys? Completely? Okay, what was your thoughts? I was gonna say, because sometimes people do crowdfunding or I know, someone else we previously interviewed did a crowdfunding campaign. Was that in mind? Like, what was the process like to get funding? And how did you decide just to totally self funded?
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Speaker 3
16:32
Yeah, I think it's still in mind, I think, you know, it's something we still talk about with crowdfunding or like family and friends, whatever we want to call it. Somebody about, it just had a bad taste for us. I don't know why. I don't know if it's like the guilt or whatever it might be. But the idea of taking money from friends and family, and having that kind of made us scared and made us feel like we would have to put a different type of thought into every action that we took. And we think we'd be more in our heads and probably less risk adverse, or I guess, more risk adverse. And so for us, we just, we couldn't do it, we didn't want to disappoint anyone. And we figured this is our risk. And this is our choice in our journey. If we can still find them, which we fortunately, were able to, let's do it. And then as we expand and grow, then we can always come back and reevaluate. If this is something we want to do, or if we want to get investors, I also think there's something cool about just owning your own business and having it all come to us. We don't have to get anyone else's opinions on what we do. We can really go from our heart and our guts and our research. And also, then we get all the benefits. It's ours. So we do really well, we do really well. And if we do really badly, it's our problem.
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Speaker 1
17:43
Yeah, I feel you guys would really benefit from crowdfunding. Like if you did a Kickstarter campaign, because you I was gonna say, especially in the New World, maybe before pre pandemic, I never used to use hand sanitizer for some reason, I just always thought I just need to wash my hands. But postman. Yeah. But now it's like, I always sanitize. And that's a part of my everyday routine, which is for a lot of people. And especially as you expand the product line, which we'll get into, I feel like that could you know, provide a unique opportunity, if that's something that you're thinking of doing
3
Speaker 3
18:17
is and you know what creating products are really expensive. And we for us, and we can definitely get into it. But we are expanding, we want to launch a lot of new products. And so that's going to be really expensive. And, and for us, we really want to do it locally, we really want to keep it all organic, and we really want to continue working with local partners are all really expensive to do. And so Crowd funding is something we definitely are talking about. We're just so weary of it. But we do need to take that plunge. I think it's just a matter of what the which product and how we go about that.
2
Speaker 2
18:52
Yeah, and like funding aside, I feel like nowadays, we've seen the power of community, when you do do it that way. We were having some some incredible talks and stuff with the women in leadership at our company. And one thing that Kelsey Berta and stuff it was was telling me that I stuck in my mind so very clearly is that, you know, when you're in a community of people, and you are all in the trenches together, and stuff, it's it's those moments where you realize that like, I don't like the outside opinions almost don't matter. You know, because you're building and you're fighting with people who care about what this what is happening, what you're trying to build, and they care about how you are and stuff at every stage like of development and stuff. And so when you have that community that comes from that is homegrown opposed to like some like outside type of like an investor and stuff who has like no name and stuff like it's a totally it's a different type of magic that you guys get your hands on.
3
Speaker 3
19:47
It's true and it's it's also like a level of trust too, and also marketing. So there is something beautiful about it, and for us was sanitizers sanitizer is such a funny thing, especially right now as mas mandates are going away. And you know, all the rules are really going away. And we're shifting kind of back to that normal and into this post pandemic. And so sanitizers really interesting right now, because people associated with the pandemic, which they should and shouldn't, it wasn't created for the pandemic, it just happened to get a bigger microphone during it. And so it's interesting nursing people not want to use sanitizers anymore, because it's a pandemic product, and they don't want anything to do with anything from COVID. Or, you know, maybe that they just didn't get into it or never found the right products. I don't know where it is. And then on the other hand, we are seeing people who have completely shifted and adopted these new norms. And maybe they are washing their hands and sanitizing more than ever. And so I think it would be interesting to do cars, crowdfunding, also just for us to understand who our supporters are in our community.
1
Speaker 1
20:58
But I was gonna say, because your product, I understand what you're saying people associate it with a pandemic product. But I feel like with your design, with the product formulation, you're marketing to people who want it to be a part of their everyday routine, because then they're conscious of using organic products and, or using like an organic formula, and one that is like nourishing to the hands rather than, you know, will be harmful, right. So I feel like you'll be you're still hitting those people that want to incorporate this and have it as a, like a core staple in their routine.
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Speaker 3
21:31
Yeah, I actually love that you use that phrase in that verbiage of routine because it is something that should be part of your skincare and your daily routine, it should be you don't leave your house without your phone, keys, wallet and sanitizer, right like that's now the day to day and also welcoming people back into your home. I personally don't trust that anyone washes their hands, I like almost need to put together some sort of PSA video about this. Because we all know that they go to the bathroom and they rinse their hands with water or tend, or they just stand in there for a couple of minutes. They're not doing it. Whereas at least if you put a sanitizer next to the sink, that's quick, they have no choice, just do it quickly sanitized, and be clean and then come into my home. And so I definitely think that it is this new routine approach. And it's not just this medical pharmaceutical product.
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Speaker 2
22:19
Yeah, and I love the idea of this new routine or approach because as much as I feel like I've personally grown in this pandemic, there are a lot of things I also really want to forget. And I don't believe really in like the erasure of like history, but I do believe in like kind of failing forward and figuring out a better way for like the kids who are growing up in this day and age. And, you know, talking with you really reminds me of a conversation that I had with Gina Galvin last week, she's one of the co founders for of stellar snacks. And one of the things that she was telling me about was like, the way that they approach their packaging is they want grocery store to look like art galleries, and stuff, like they support artists and stuff with the way that they display their food. And when I think of your product, I also think of like this, when I, when I tell my nieces and nephews about this, or when I introduce products to them, it's like I want it to be a better experience for them. You know, like it doesn't have to be remembered like this, this can be a better routine experience. So I would love to erase the idea, the idea or the experience of having to go to the drugstore, buy whatever sanitizer was there and really have no idea what the texture was, what the experience was with the scent was like that. I feel like were those moments that permeated my brain of like, I don't know what's available. I don't really know what's in this. I don't know how it's going to dry my hands even last week. Similar thing as we're coming out. I went to the drugstore, got a product was expecting it to be one of those parts. I could just sanitize quickly as I was walking through the convention. And it ended up being this really oily, slippery thing. And when I was trying to get just what sanitize my hands to eat. I was like, No, I've got to wait for this to wait. Is it drying? I'm not really sure. And I was like, and it kind of reminded me like we're not totally out of it. But within the product that gives you a new routine that allows you to forge forward. I feel like it's a way of like building back better.
24:13
Yeah, I almost like want to record you and then
24:17
free coffee free coffee.
3
Speaker 3
24:20
But no, it's so true. And it's still nothing. Nothing is worse to me. Being the owner of a sanitizer business currently walking into a restaurant, they forced me they use their disgusting sanitizer at the front and then I'm wiping my hands on my pants and I'm so grossed out. It stinks. It stinks like tequila and it. Oh, it's so horrible. So yes, 100% it's like how do we make this less scary and less daunting and more exciting. And I think also the other side of it is you know, as adults we spend so much money on our homes. We decorate the whole space and we make it really nice we buy these nice bags and put together outfits. Most of us are part of that. And it's part it's like that finishing piece on the coffee table or by the entrance. And that cute, you know, other tchotchke to have in your purse. It's part of our every day, and it's part of that skincare routine. And so yeah, to make it more exciting and to make it something that people can look forward to moving forward and be excited to buy and to have in their roster or in their cart, I completely agree that we can definitely shift the narrative away from the pandemic sanitizer to just sanitizer.
1
Speaker 1
25:35
I wanted to pivot because you're mentioning product expansions. And that's something that we wanted to touch on as well curious, because you're saying this is the starting point, the sanitizers, what can you share about expansion plans in your product line?
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Speaker 3
25:49
Yeah, so our sanitizers will always be the OG. And I think eventually, we will circle back to see how we can improve our packaging, and also offer more sense and more sizes and shapes. So we will definitely always have our sanitizers and we will come back to expand them. But we recognize that as we grow our brand, and as we grow our name, we definitely need to offer more. And it's been interesting, having conversations about our sanitizer, and selling into different stores because we get to learn what they have or what they're locking, or what are the products that are full of chemicals that we can change, or that they're just not liking the look of. And so it's been fun for us to do that research and see what are the products that are stashed far in the back of your medicine cabinet or far under your sink, and how can we bring them to the surface and make them toxic and chemical free, but also pretty damn Q. And so we will be expanding, we're going to be kind of more of that, like elevated lifestyle goods and lifestyle brand. So still organic and still natural and clean. But looking really now across the home. So some of the main ones that we're hoping to launch fingers crossed into sometime this summer, late September, October, um, we're going to be doing a room spray, we're going to be doing a lubricating. So we're going to do it all purpose cleaner. So So really, it's quite a weird mix of like random items thrown into a bag. But we want to be in all parts of the home. And when you're in the store, like Whole Foods, for instance, we want to be across the store and we want to be in front of you in every way.
1
Speaker 1
27:21
Yeah, that's good marketing, real estate in the store, especially. Question for competition wise, are there brands similar to yours, and if so, what differentiates you guys from those other brands,
3
Speaker 3
27:38
there are definitely a handful of brands that are similar, that's just always going to be the case, I we laugh about it, I have friends who also have started their businesses. And when you get the idea, you think I'm brilliant. This is gonna be so sick, and then you're about to launch and someone just launches something so similar, or after you launch a month after five more come out just like you. It's just the way of the world we're watching and seeing the same things in our lives. And they're influencing our thoughts. And it's not just happening to one person. So there's definitely other brands that are taking a similar path to ours. But how are we different, we really do our best to create locally and keep it all in Ontario, which is really cool. Actually, a lot of it's within the GTA, which is awesome. And we are very familiar with what like what the ingredients are, we want to make sure you know if we are familiar, then not being chemists that are consumers feel the same way that they look at the bottle, they read the ingredients and they don't have to go Google that. They understand what they are putting on their hands and that it's not chemicals and that it's clean. And it's okay for them to use. And it's okay for all ages to use. Like if you are for instance, with our sanitizer, we have a ton of moms who were nervous about a lot of the sanitizers because they interact with their children or their babies and the kids put their hands in my mouth all day. We want you to feel safe and not have to worry about that. And then also the packaging itself really is what stands out. Yeah, that's probably my favorite part of DOM is the look and feel of it. It is so simple. It's one of those packages that it either ads or just simply camouflage just in. So it's either something that you're adding to your everyday space that looks cute, or you can also just leave on your coffee table and it's not going to interrupt the style of look of it. And I think that's something we could do across our price. I think when the one that stands out, that I think is worth touching on is our lubricant. When you look at libs, they scream. Like it's like a Trojan it's a sex all over it and it's loud and it's embarrassing and you are just like immediately ashamed if God forbid anyone sees your bathroom. And if you're in love come over you are hiding it so far back. Well what's interesting with our packaging is you won't even know what the lib you won't even recognize it. It's sometimes a good thing and a bad thing I always say to our sanitizer it's like to have fun Also, but you sometimes can't recognize that it's a sanitizer. So when you're buying a stores, you do definitely need to be able to sample it to know what it is and have a salesperson tell you about it. But that's a beautiful thing. We don't need these products to be so loud about who they are, they can be simple and elegant and minimalist and fit into your everyday just so much better.