Rituals, Talent & Growth with Allyse Cirillo | Fuel for Female Founders Podcast Ep 17

Allyse Cirillo spent fifteen years developing products for fashion and intimates brands, including a shapewear company she helped take from $25 million to $400 million in three years. It was not her company. She left to build SAINT Jō, a clean beauty line built around a routine a woman will actually keep: numbered bottles, three minutes morning and night. Allyse and Andrea walk through how she did it without a gap in income. She stayed in the job eighteen more months, learned the beauty category from a naturopathic doctor, chemists and trade shows, then launched when a manufacturer offered to produce first and get paid once she was selling. She built the company and lost 80 pounds in the same stretch. She is candid about marketing being the part she did not arrive knowing, about hiring a fractional CMO better at it than her, about knowing your funding options six months before you need them, and about why corporate is a real path rather than a consolation prize. Her ask: meet one new person a month, and raise your hand and ask the question. Timestamps 0:00 Intro 1:16 Fifteen years developing product in corporate 2:32 The COVID moment she stopped serving everyone 5:28 Building the brand while still employed 6:18 The manufacturer who offered to back her 10:04 Why rituals beat being perfect 15:57 Hiring people smarter than you 17:38 Hiring for soft skills and culture 21:00 Why community changed her first year 25:11 Deciding to spend on the big rooms 28:32 Networking with intention, and the ROI 31:28 Know your funding options six months out 35:16 Corporate is not a lesser path Resources & Connections Connect with Allyse Cirillo on LinkedIn:   / allyse-cirillo   SAINT Jō: https://shopsaintjo.com/ SAINT Jō on Instagram:   / shop.saintjo   Connect with Andrea Johnston on LinkedIn:   / andrealjohnston   https://www.fuelforfemalefounders.com Fuel for Female Founders on LinkedIn:   / fuel-for-female-founders   Enjoyed This Episode? Leave a review. Share it with a woman in your life who needs to hear it. Produced by UNFLTR https://unfltr.io/